The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed has reacted to the CBN’S planned introduction of new naira saying the action will cause the naira to lose value against major trading currencies, especially the dollar.
She lamented that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).didn’t consult her office before such a major economic decision was taken. The CBN Governor Mr. Godwin Emefiele had said President Muhammadu Buhari had approved the action.
The CBN had on Wednesday 26th October, 2022 announced that it would start circulating newly redesigned N100, N200, N500 and N1000 naira notes from December 15.
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 the minister told the National Assembly her ministry was not consulted and she warned that the new policy may have grave consequences on the value of naira to other major foreign currencies, especially the dollar.
The minister spoke while responding to questions from members of the Senate Committee on Finance during 2023 budget defence session.
“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” she 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” she said.
“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” she stated.
