President Muhammadu Buhari, on Sunday, said that the decision of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to launch new designs and replace high value naira notes, has his support and he is convinced that the nation will gain a lot from it.
Speaking in a Hausa radio interview with a famous journalist, Ahmed Getso, and Kamaluddeen Shawai to be aired on Wednesday Morning on Tambari TV on Nilesat, the president said reasons given by the CBN convinced him that the economy will benefit from a reduction in inflation, currency counterfeiting and the excess cash in circulation.
He said he did not consider the three-month period for the change to the new notes as being short.
”People with illicit money buried under the soil will have a challenge with this but workers, businesses with legitimate incomes will face no difficulties at all.”
In the interview, the president also addressed issues of food security and national security, among others.
The clarification followed an earlier comment by the minister of finance, budget and national planning, Zainab Ahmad, that she was not consulted before the announcement of the new policy.
The minister made the comment in response to a question raised by Opeyemi Bamidele, a senator representing APC Ekiti Central Constituency, during the 2023 budget defence session with the Senate committee on finance, where he warned the CBN of consequences that may arise from it.
The minister in her response said she and her ministry were not aware of the policy but only heard of it from the media.
According to the minister, “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.
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“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 the 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.
Bamidele had in his question, told the finance minister that barely two days after the announcement of the policy by CBN, the repercussion of it on the value of naira to the US dollar was being felt.
“Just two days after the announcement of the policy, the value of naira has depreciated from N740 to N788 to the US dollar due to rush in exchange of naira notes for foreign currencies, particularly the dollar
“To me the policy may be a well-conceived one, but the timing going by realities on ground, is 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”, he said.
