FINANCE MINISTER DISSOCIATES SELF FROM NAIRA REDESIGN POLICY

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning , Zainab Ahmed, has dissociated herself from the Naira redesign policy fixed for December 15, 2022 by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

The Minister, who commented on the policy in response to question raised by Senators during the 2023 budget defence session she had with the Senate Committee on Finance, chaired by Senator Solomon Olamilekan, warned the CBN of consequences that may arise from the policy.

The Senate had told the Finance Minister that barely two days after announcement of the policy by the CBN, the negative effect was already being experienced in the country’s forex.

The Senate noted that just two days after announcement of the policy, value of the Naira to a US dollar has risen from N740 to N788 due to rush in exchange of stashed Naira Notes for foreign currencies, particularly the dollar.

The senators added that the policy may be a well-conceived one, but the timing, going by realities on the ground, is very wrong as the naira may fall to as low as N1,000 to a US dollar before January 31, 2023 fixed for full implementation of the policy.

In her response, Ahmed said she and her Ministry were not aware of the policy but only heard of it from the media.