No Plans To Re-Denominate Naira, Says CBN

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has insisted that it has no plans to re-denominate the Naira, saying such reports are misleading.   According to a statement by the Director, Corporate Communications of the Apex Bank Dr. Isa AbdulMumin, he wondered why a narrative that had been refuted by the Bank continues to gain traction. “The attention of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has been drawn to the wide circulation of a text message suggesting that the Bank plans to redenominate the country’s legal tender, the Naira, with effect from January 2024. “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. “We wish to reiterate that the contents of the message are misleading,” it said. The Apex Bank noted that 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. “For the avoidance of doubt, there is currently no plan by the Bank to restructure and redenominate the naira as it considers reforms”, according to laid down procedures in line with the provisions of the CBN Act, 2007. The regulator advised Nigerians to ignore the news report, “as it is speculative and calculated to cause panic in the polity.”

Naira To Reach ‘Fair Value’ Of N750/$ By Year’s End – FG

The Federal Government is planning to introduce new foreign exchange rules — including a crackdown on illegal currency trading — that it hopes will result in the naira closing its more-than-45 per cent gap with the unofficial rate and reaching a “fair price” by year-end, a top official has said. The government plans to clear a backlog of dollar demand estimated at about $6.7 billion, bolster the naira forward market, and set transparent rules for the operations of the official market, Taiwo Oyedele, chair of the presidential committee on fiscal policy and tax reforms, said in an interview with Bloomberg. The government sees a “fair price” for the dollar at N650 to N750, Oyedele said. In the parallel market, it traded at N1,165 per dollar yesterday, already beginning to recede from the former high of about N1,130 to the dollar. The government plans to clear a backlog of dollar demand estimated at about $6.7 billion, bolster the naira forward market, and set transparent rules for the operations of the official market, Oyedele said. It also aims to expand the official market to include all legitimate transactions, while snuffing out the illicit “black market” for foreign currency, he said. “We think all of that will happen before December, and maybe in a matter of a couple of weeks we will begin to see the results, such that before the end of the calendar year, naira should find its true value, not the one that is being done currently in the parallel market,” Oyedele said.