By Munachimso Obienyi
President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday said that the decision of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to launch new designs and replace high value naira notes had his support and approval.
President Buhari said he was convinced that the nation would gain a lot by redesigning the naira. This would come as a shock to the minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed who had told Senate committee on Finance last week that she and the ministry were not consulted by the CBN.
Ahmed on Friday said the CBN did not consult her ministry before taking the decision to redesign naira notes by December. Ahmed, said even though one of the reasons for the decision was to manage inflation, consequences were sure to follow. “We were not consulted,” she said. “It was an announcement that we heard.
Part of the reasons that was advocated is that it is one of the ways to mop up the liquidity to manage inflation. “But there are also consequences – we are looking at what the consequences will be. There will be some benefits but there will be some challenges.
“And I don’t know whether the monetary authorities have actually looked very closely at what the consequences and how they will mitigate it.”
