Nairametrics
Godwin Emefiele, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has stated that the proposed redesign of some naira notes would improve the value of the currency and rein in inflation.
His statement came shortly after he announced the redesigned N200, N500, and N1,000 notes would start circulating by December 15, 2023.
The naira redesign is simply a change in the currency’s appearance and security features. The redesign would have no impact on the face value of the naira.
The apex bank said the policy would enable it to retake control of the excess money outside the banking system, thereby increasing the value of the currency and containing inflation.
What the CBN is saying
- Emefiele said, “The issue is that, as you have heard, as of September 2022, we had N3.23 trillion naira in circulation; out of that, N2.73 trillion is outside the vaults of the banks. So, first of all, we want to mop all the N3.23 trillion back into the CBN so we can retake control of the money supply and see how this will help rein in inflation. No doubt we believe it has a positive impact on inflation.”
Responding to the question of whether the decision to redesign the new notes will impact the value of the naira, the governor said, “well, I do not want just easily to admit that that will happen, but we suspect that this will happen and that it will positively impact the value of the naira because we don’t want to do any speculation…
