The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Center said the Central Bank of Nigeria’s plans to redesign the 200, 500 and 1,000 naira notes are not an economic priority for the country given the current challenges facing the economy.
CISLAC Executive Director Auwal Musa clarified this in a statement on Thursday, adding that there is a pressing need for CBN to respond to put the economy on the road to recovery.
Musa added that the concerned reaction of Nigerians to the announcement was evidence that the decision was a misprioritization on the part of the CBN.
He said the CBN should be more concerned with protecting its foreign exchange reserves from external outflows and making them available to the public with a real and justifiable need for foreign exchange. He added that the blow equates to CBN’s inability to do it. do its job effectively.
“Firstly, the CBN’s decision to reissue new 200, 500 and 1000 notes was not an economic priority, but rather a decision to address Nigeria’s poor monetary policy challenges and growing economic woes. is not a solution for
“Especially at a time when the country is grappling with huge fiscal deficits, a free depreciation of the naira, skyrocketing inflation, multiple foreign exchange rates and rising borrowing costs. It looks similar to the one given to the forex demand management strategy which did not come to a satisfactory conclusion as it failed to reflect the market as much as possible to improve supply, but this time the Nigerians It can have an economic impact.
“Public perception that this decision has no value to the economy repeatedly shows that the CBN tends to be distracted from fulfilling its overriding statutory obligations.
“The mixed comments and reactions from interested Nigerians have left many Nigerians skeptical of Apex Bank’s priorities for making decisions that involve huge logistical costs and avoidable disruption to small businesses. It shows that they care about differences in the informal sector.”
The CISLAC boss added that the CBN’s macroeconomic policies had only caused “unfathomable hardship” to the Nigerian economy, which had a negative impact on Nigerians as a result.
He added that Apex Bank has a lot of work to do to regain the trust and confidence of the public.
“So far, CBN’s macroeconomic and monetary policies have adversely affected people’s livelihoods and caused immense difficulties to the productive and service sectors of the country’s economy. It operates a rate system, facilitates arbitrage trading between parallel and official foreign exchange markets, provides enormous financial assistance, and extends foreign exchange-based benefits to its allies. condemned.
“Nigeria is grappling with external pressures due to the failure of the Central Bank of Nigeria to protect its foreign exchange reserves from external outflows.
“Apex Bank has much to do to restore public confidence by addressing what it cannot guarantee. We will discourage the use of the financial system to finance terrorism by increasing scrutiny of our It even depends on the metrics,” he added. To inform investment decisions regarding safety and stability.
Strengthen cooperation with relevant anti-corruption agencies and check suspicious charges by some commercial banks. These banks continue to short poor Nigerians whose disposable income is being exacerbated by rising inflation costs and unemployment.
“Reducing competition with other agencies by promoting sector interventions beyond their mandate without the consent or cooperation of the relevant coordinating ministries. , could be more effective by ensuring synergies on intervention funds between fiscal and monetary authorities and adopting transparent mechanisms for beneficiary access.
“The availability of foreign exchange to those who legitimately need it, such as students and businesses studying abroad. It affected access to foreign exchange for the payment of tuition fees and the importation of systems and raw materials that greatly contribute to the country’s deteriorating economic situation. As a result, foreign direct investment will be hit hard.
“The sanitization of CBN’s recruitment process, which is opaque as it appears to be reserved exclusively for the children, wards and associates of politically exposed persons.
“During this time of desperate economic hardship for Nigeria, the CBN’s efforts will drive strong monetary policy aligned with global best practices to combat inflation and ensure a strong financial system in an increasingly uncertain global economy. It will be more useful in building a .
