Nigeria’s Central Bank Doubles Down on Plans to Introduce Newly Designed Naira Banknotes – In an apparent rebuke to Nigerian Finance Minister Zainab Ahmad, who has publicly questioned the idea, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has stated that its recently disclosed intention to issue newly designed naira banknotes is legal and “12 years overdue.”
As reported, the CBN’s intention to introduce newly designed naira banknotes is thought to have sparked the local currency’s parallel market exchange rate plunge, where it reportedly hit a new all-time low of N781:$1 versus the dollar. Addressing lawmakers a day after the CBN’s surprise announcement, Ahmad reportedly said she had not been consulted and therefore could not comment “on it as regards merits or otherwise.”
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By the end of January 31, 2023, the naira-to-dollar exchange rate might drop to as low as 1000 naira per dollar, according to opponents of the CBN’s controversial proposal. However, the CBN adamantly urged Nigerians to accept the currency redesign policy in a statement released on October 29, 2022.
“The CBN urges Nigerians to support the currency redesign project which is in the overall interest of every citizen of the country. The hoarding of significant sums of banknotes outside the vaults of commercial banks should be discouraged by anyone who means well for the country,” the central bank said.
The CBN reiterated past statements that the circulation of the redesigned naira is a common process globally and must be carried out every five to eight years in the statement, saying it had “tarried for too long considering that it had to wait 20 years to carry out a redesign.”
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On December 15, new 100, 200, 500, and 1,000 naira banknotes are anticipated to enter circulation. By the end of January 2023, Nigerians are expected to return the old notes. Although opponents of the currency redesign plan have urged the CBN to extend the deadline or abandon the scheme entirely, the most recent local sources cite President Buhari as supporting the move.
