Modupe Gbadeyanka
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said contrary to reports making the round, the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company (MSPMC) Plc, also known as The Mint, has the capacity and enough materials to print more Naira notes.
For some weeks, Nigeria has experienced a shortage in the supply of the new currency notes in circulation, resulting in long queues at banks and Automated Teller Machine (ATM) points across the country.
The apex bank changed the designs of the N200, N500, and N1,000 banknotes last year and gave January 31, 2023, as the deadline for the use of the old notes. This was later moved to February 10.
Yesterday, President Muhammadu Buhari conveyed a council of state meeting to discuss the socio-economic crisis in the country, and it was claimed that the Governor of the CBN, Mr Godwin Emefiele, admitted to the council that the bank failed in the circulation of the redesigned Naira because the Mint was short of materials to print enough money.
But the CBN, in a statement issued on Saturday by its spokesman, Mr Osita Nwanisobi, said Mr Emefiele did not blame the agency for the crisis bedevilling the nation.
“We wish to state categorically that at no time did the CBN Governor disclose this during his presentation to the National Council of State at its meeting on Friday, February 10, 2023.
“For the records, what Mr Emefiele told the meeting was that the NSPMC was working on printing all denominations of the Naira to meet the transaction needs of Nigerians,” a part of the statement today said.
The central expressed dismay at “the extent to which vested interests are attempting to manipulate facts and pitch the public against the bank.”
“For the avoidance of doubt, the CBN remains committed to performing its monetary policy functions, as stipulated in the CBN Act, 2007, as amended.
“We also wish to restate that the NSPMC has the capacity and enough materials to produce the required indent of the Naira.
“The bank, therefore, wishes to appeal to the public to disregard the said report and exercise more restraint, even as we work assiduously to increase the circulation of the new notes in the country,” it added.
Also, the central bank has described a voice note trending in social media alleging that it plans to shut down some banks, particularly in a particular geo-political region of the country, as false.
“We wish to state unequivocally that there is no such plan and that the claims are illogical and do not comply with the workings of the Nigerian banking system.
“The public is, therefore, advised to ignore such recordings as they do not represent the policy thrust of the CBN and are only the desperate attempts of persons bent on inciting the public against the bank,” it stressed.
