OSAS EMMANUEL
As the nation awaits the December 15 take off of the announced redesigning of Nigeria’s Naira notes, the Minister for Finance has disowned the policy.
To the surprise of members of the Senate Committee on Finance, the minister, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, said she and her ministry were not aware of the policy.
The Minister was at the National Assembly on Friday to defend the ministry’s 2023 budget proposals.
A member of the Committee, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele (APC Ekiti Central), had asked the Minister the effect of the Naira redesigning on the nation’s economy.
“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 stacthed Naira Notes for foreign currencies, particularly 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,” Bamidele said.
Responding, the Minister said, “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 the 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.
The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, had on Wednesday said that the apex bank would redesign the country’s currency from 200 Naira denomination to N1,000 notes.
He said that the action was taken in order to take control of the currency in circulation just as he posited that the bulk of the nation’s currency notes were outside bank vaults and that the CBN would not allow the situation to continue.
The planned policy, he added, was in line with Sections 19, Subsections A and B of the CBN Act 2007, upon which the Management of the CBN sought and obtained the approval of President Muhammadu Buhari to redesign, produce, and circulate new series of banknotes at N200, N500, and N1,000 levels.
