FX Crisis: No Plan to Redenominate Naira –CBN
Yemi Cardoso, CBN Gov

FX Crisis: No Plan to Redenominate Naira –CBN

There is no plan to restructure, or redenominate the naira, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said in a statement released on Tuesday, refuting a report suggesting its intention to redenominate the local currency.

The apex bank response followed a widely circulated text message suggesting that the bank plans to redenominate the naira with effect from January 2024. The text came as the local currency continues to lose its allure in the forex market.

Reacting to this, the director of corporate communications, Isa AbdulMumin, described the text message as “misleading” and “calculated to cause panic in the polity.”

The apex bank said that the authors of the text message had “modified text eked from an old policy move by a previous CBN Governor in 2007 to make it appear recent.”

“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,” CBN said.

“We wish to reiterate that the contents of the message are misleading. The authors of the message, in their mischief, modified text eked from an old policy move by a previous CBN Governor in 2007 to make it appear recent.”

CBN added that it “may be considering reforms” but that such reforms “are subject to laid down procedures in line with the provisions of the CBN Act, 2007.”

It further stated that there is currently “no plan by the bank to restructure and redenominate the naira.”

The bank, however, urged the public to ignore the text message and any other reports, as it is “speculative and calculated to cause panic in the polity.” X Valued at $19bn, 57% Below Acquisition Price