Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, Zainab Ahmad, has disassociated her ministry from the planned move by the Central Bank of Nigeria ( CBN) to redesign and print the some denominations of the Nigerian currency.
The minister, who made the comment in response to a question raised by Senator Opeyemi Bamidele (APC Ekiti Central) during the 2023 budget defense session with the Senate Committee on Finance, warned CBN of severe consequences that may arise from the new policy.
Bamidele said: “Just two days after the announcement of the policy, the value of naira to a US dollar has risen from N740 to N788 due to a rush in exchange of naira notes for foreign currencies, particularly dollars.
On her part, Ahmed 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 the 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.”
Recall that the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, had on Wednesday said that the apex bank would redesign the country’s currency from N200 denomination to N1000 notes.
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