The CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, said that the planned redesign of the Naira might make the currency worth more.
Emefiele revealed this while announcing that the apex bank intended to start issuing the newly designed N200, N500, and N1,000 denominations on December 15.
Even though he said it wasn’t the main reason why the currency was changed, he did say it could be one of the benefits.
Emefiele said that a lot of people were hoarding money, that there wasn’t enough clean, working money, that currency fraud was on the rise, and that counterfeiting was becoming more likely.
“Statistics show that more than 85 percent of currency in circulation are outside the vaults of our commercial banks.
“As at the end of September, N2.7 trillion out of the N3.23 trillion currencies in circulation was outside the vaults of commercial banks across the country.
“Evidently, currency in circulation has more than doubled since 2015 rising from N1.46 trillion as at Dec. 2015, to N3.23 trillion as of Sept. 2022.
“This is a worrisome trend that cannot continue to be allowed, ” he said.
Emefiele asserts that recent advancements in printing technology and photography have also made it simpler to counterfeit Nigerian currency.
He declared that the apex bank was committed to immediately stopping the problem.
“In recent times, the CBN has recorded significantly higher cases of counterfeiting, especially at the higher denominations of N500 and N1,000 banknotes.
“Although, global best practice is for central banks to redesign, produce and circulate new legal tenders every five to eight years, our existing series of banknotes has not been redesigned in the last 20 years.
“The CBN remains resolutely determined to achieve the objective of its mandate as enshrined in the CBN Act.
“It is, therefore, no longer tenable to continue with business as usual, especially given the continually evolving circumstances that could impede the optimal performance of our Naira,” he said.
He said that the CBN’s decision to redesign the Naira will further the effort to establish a cashless society.
“It will be complemented by increased minting of the eNaira. This will further reign in on currency outside the banking system into the banking system, thus making monetary policy more efficacious,” he said.
He said that the action will also contribute to reducing crimes like abduction and terrorism.
“Access to large volumes of money outside the banking system used as source of ransome would begin to dry up ” he said.
