The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has debunked reports that its governor, Godwin Emefiele, said on Friday that the apex bank lacks the capacity to print more money due to the incapacity of the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company Plc.
The central bank governor was quoted as saying that during the National Council of State meeting held yesterday in Abuja, over the chaotic redesigned naira policy of the CBN.
In a statement issued on Saturday, CBN spokesman, Osita Nwasinobi, said at no time did the CBN governor make such a statement during the Council’s meeting.
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According to the statement, Emefiele only told the meeting that the NSPMC was working on printing all denominations of the Naira to meet the transaction needs of Nigerians.
The implementation of the policy has been mired in chaos due to the scarcity of the new naira notes. The governor of Kaduna State had earlier alleged that the central bank printed only N300 billion, which significantly falls short, compared to the over N3 trillion outside the banks’ vaults that it is trying to mop up.
The bone of contention, which is the February 10 deadline set by the CBN for the old naira notes to be returned to banks, has triggered nationwide criticism of the policy. Increasing number of Nigerian states has dragged the federal government to the Supreme Court, citing the amount of suffering the policy is causing Nigerians.
Nwasinobi said while the CBN appreciates the concerns shown by all stakeholders about the distribution of the new Naira notes, the financial sector regulator is alarmed at the extent to which vested interests are attempting to manipulate facts and pitch the public against the Bank.
He added that the CBN remains committed to performing its monetary policy functions, as stipulated in the CBN Act, 2007 (as amended).
“We also wish to restate that the NSPMC has the capacity and enough materials to produce the required indent of the Naira.
“The bank, therefore, wishes to appeal to the public to disregard the said report and exercise more restraint, even as we work assiduously to increase the circulation of the new notes in the country,” he added.
The NCS had asked the CBN to increase currency supply by printing more of the redesigned N200, N500 and N1,000 or allow the old note to co-circulate with the new notes. Emefiele was quoted as saying in response, that the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Plc (The Mint), is currently under capacity constraints, which means it cannot print adequate new notes to replace the old naira notes.
Speaking also on a viral voice note alleging on social media that the CBN plans to shut down some banks, particularly in a particular geopolitical region of the country, Nwasinobi dismissed it as a lie. He said the claims were 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,” he stated.