No Plan To Redenominate $1 To N1.25—CBN

The Central Bank of Nigeria has denied any plan to redenominate the naira to almost equal the United States Dollars.

Reports (Not THE WHISTLER) had claimed that the apex bank planned to redenominate the currency such that $1 will equal N1.25 by November 2023.

The report had claimed, “The name of the national currency will still be the Naira. However, during the transition period, the existing Naira will be referred to as the “Old Naira”, and the new one to be called the ‘New Naira.

“After the transition period, the word ‘New’ may be dropped. For example, the following equivalents will obtain as we re-denominate: 50 kobo Half kobo; N1 = 1 kobo coin; N2 = 2 kobo coin; N5 = 5 kobo coin; N10 = 10 kobo coin; N20 = 20 kobo coin; N50 = 50 kobo coin or note; N100 = N 1 note; N200 = N2 note; N500 = N5 note; N1,000 = N10 note and the N2,000 = N20 note.”

But the CBN labeled the report “false” adding that there are no such plans to redenominate the currency.

The apex bank said, “The Central Bank of Nigeria would like to bring to your attention that the attached message currently circulating on social media is false and should be disregarded.”

The report claimed that the CBN was planning to execute the policy to drive down prices amidst the country’s rising inflation.

The CBN under the Acting Governor, Folashodun Shonubi on June 14 2023, reintroduced the ‘Willing buyer, willing seller’ foreign exchange model and floated the currency.

The apex bank also unified the forex market along the Investors’ and Exporters’ Forex window now the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market.

Since the introduction of the policy, the naira has fallen to N930 at the parallel market which is controlled by Bureau de Change Operators and N773 per dollar at the official window.

The FTSE Russell on Monday downgraded the Nigerian Stock Exchange over the ‘failure’ of the policy to achieve the desired result.

According to FTSE Russell, Nigeria’s foreign exchange crunch has made it difficult for investors to repatriate funds and proceeds of investment in the capital market.