Naira redesigning ill-timed, Finance minister knocks CBN

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, on Friday expressed reservations with the redesigning of some naira denominations by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The CBN on Wednesday announced that it would start circulating newly redesigned N100, N200, N500 and N1000 naira notes from December 15.

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CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, said the move was to counter terrorism financing, hoarding of banknotes by members of the public, with statistics showing that over 85 per cent of monies in circulation were outside the vaults of commercial banks.

But Ahmed said her ministry was not consulted on the CBN move, warning that the new policy may have grave consequences on the value of naira to other foreign currencies.

The minister spoke while responding to questions from members of the Senate Committee on Finance during 2023 budget defence session.

Senator Michael Opeyemi Bamidele (APC, Ekiti), had said that barely two days after the announcement of the policy by CBN, its effects on the value of Naira to US dollar was being felt.

He said, “Just two days after announcement of the policy, value of Naira to a US dollar has risen from N740 to N788 to a US dollar due to rush in exchange of starched naira notes for foreign currencies, particularly US dollar.

“To me, the policy may be a well-conceived one, but the timing, going by realities on ground, is very wrong as the naira may fall to as low as N1,000 to a US dollar before January 31, 2023 fixed for full implementation of the policy.”

Responding, the minister said she was not not aware of the policy but only heard of it from the media.

“Distinguished senators, we were not consulted at the Ministry of Finance by CBN on the planned naira redesigning and cannot comment on it as regards merits or otherwise.

“However as a Nigerian privileged to be at the top of Nigeria’s fiscal management, the policy, as rolled out at this time, portends serious consequences on value of naira to other foreign currencies.

“I will, however, appeal to this committee to invite the CBN governor for required explanations as regards merits of the planned policy and rightness or otherwise of its implementation now,” she said.