Naira Scarcity: CBN Denies Reports Emefiele Said No Paper To Print New Naira note

The Nigerian Central Bank (CBN) has refuted claims that its governor, Godwin Emefiele, said that a lack of printing supplies at the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company Plc was to blame for the current difficulty in distributing the newly redesigned naira banknotes.

Emefiele allegedly mentioned this during his presentation to the National Council of State during its meeting on Friday, February 10, 2023, according to some sources in a sector of the media.

the NSPMC was working on printing all Naira denominations to suit Nigerians’ transaction demands, contrary to what Emefiele declared at the Council meeting, according to the apex bank.

A statement released by Osita Nwanisobi, Director, Corporate Communications of the CBN, reads in part;

While the CBN appreciates the concerns shown by all stakeholders about the distribution of the Naira, we are alarmed 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 lso 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.

The apex bank also reacted to a misleading voice note trending on social media alleging that the CBN planned to shut down some banks in a particular geopolitical region of the country.

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” the statement reads