The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has come out to debunk the viral claims that it had plans to redenominate the country’s currency, Naira, with effect from January 2024.
CBN’s Director of Corporate Communications, Isa AbdulMumin made this known on Tuesday in a statement which was made available to Africa Today News, New York.
The reaction of the apex bank is coming against the backdrop of a claim suggesting it plans to redenominate the country’s legal tender.
The Bank refuted the claim, noting that it has no plan to restructure and redenominate the Naira.
Read Also: After DSS Release, EFCC Detains Emefiele, Ex-CBN Governor
‘The attention of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has been drawn to the wide circulation of a text message suggesting that the Bank plans to redenominate the Country’s legal tender, the Naira, with effect from January 2024.
‘We are concerned that this narrative, which we had refuted before now, appears to be gaining traction with several debates on the implication of such a policy for the Nigerian economy.
‘We wish to reiterate that the contents of the message are misleading. The authors of the message, in their mischief, modified text taken from an old policy move by a previous CBN Governor in 2007 to make it appear recent.
‘To avoid doubt, there is currently no plan by the Bank to restructure and redenominate the Naira. Whilst the Bank may be considering reforms, such are subject to laid down procedures in line with the provisions of the CBN Act, 2007.
‘The public is hereby advised to ignore the news report, as it is speculative and calculated to cause panic in the polity’, the statement contained.
Meanwhile, Africa Today News, New York reports that the naira weakened 26% against the dollar on the official market, touching its lowest closing price on record amid an acute local shortage of the greenback in Africa’s most-populous nation.
The naira closed at 993.82 to the dollar on Monday, compared with 789.94 in the previous trading day, according to FMDQ Group, a Lagos-based exchange operator that tracks the data.