The claimed threat to close down some deposit banks due to naira scarcity has been refuted by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Osita Nwanisobi, the Director of corporate communications at the central bank, said in a statement that there was no such plan and that the assertions were nonsensical and inconsistent with how the Nigerian financial system operates.
“The attention of the CBN has been drawn to a misleading report misquoting the Governor, Godwin Emefiele, as attributing the current challenge in the distribution of the newly redesigned naira banknotes to a shortage of printing materials at the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company Plc.
“We wish to state categorically that at no time did the CBN Governor disclose this during his presentation to the National Council of State at its meeting on Friday, February 10, 2023.
“For the records, what Emefiele told the meeting was that the NSPMC was working on printing all denominations of the naira to meet the transaction needs of Nigerians,” he said.
He said that while the CBN understood the concerns expressed by all parties over the distribution of the naira, the Bank was concerned about how vested interests were trying to distort the truth in order to turn the public against it.
He added that the NSPMC had the ability and resources to create the necessary amount of the naira and that the CBN remained committed to carrying out its monetary policy activities in accordance with the provisions of the CBN Act, 2007, as amended.
The CBN urged the people to disregard the aforementioned report and practice greater prudence while it works tirelessly to boost the country’s use of the new notes.
“We wish to state unequivocally that there is no such plan and that the claims are illogical and do not comply with the workings of the Nigerian banking system. The public is therefore advised to ignore such recordings as they do not represent the policy thrust of the CBN and are only the desperate attempts of persons bent on inciting the public against the Bank,” the statement added.
