President of the federal republic of Nigeria Muhammadu Buhari has disclosed that he approved plans for the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to redesign some naira notes.
He stated that he was convinced that the redesign of some Naira notes will help to curb some challenges bedeviling the country as stated by the CBN, some of which are; Tackling Counterfeiting, and Introduction of New notes, amongst others.
President Buhari however assured Nigerians that he believes that the launch of the new notes would be of great benefit to the country, hence there was no need to panic.
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According to a statement by the senior special assistant to the president on media and publicity, Garba Shehu, he noted that the president gave his assurance that Nigeria has a lot to gain from the change in naira notes, adding that he did not consider the period of 3 months for the change to the new notes as being short.
Shehu in the statement titled, ‘CBN Has My Backing in Replacing Naira Notes,’ said, “Buhari said reasons given to him by the CBN convinced him that the economy stood to benefit from a reduction in inflation, currency counterfeiting and the excess cash in circulation.
“He said he did not consider the period of three months 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, and businesses with legitimate incomes will face no difficulties at all.”
The CBN governor had stated that the plan to redesign the note, 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.
Recall that Nigeria’s minister of Finance, Budget, and national planning Zainab Ahmed earlier kicked against the CBN plan to redesign some naira notes, stating that the finance ministry was not informed about the plans.
She further disclosed that her ministry’s officials were not aware of the policy but only heard about it from the media.
However some experts have kicked against the CBN plans, stating that the policy may be a well-conceived one but with the realities on ground, it’s 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,”
Also, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) weighed in on the matter by disclosing that Nigeria needs to take caution to avoid any missteps that could undermine confidence in the financial system.