The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has dismissed reports in some quarters claiming that the apex bank is incapable of printing new naira notes.
Recall that there were reports that the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele had noted that the apex bank cannot print adequate naira notes to replace the old N200, N500 and 1,000 notes because the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Plc (The Mint) is suffering from capacity constraints.
The reports claimed that Emefiele made the disclosure on Friday when he briefed former Nigerian leaders at the emergency meeting of the National Council of State.
A source that spoke with Premium Times disclosed that the Mint had received CBN’s request to print 70 million copies of the new notes.
The source added that the new notes, totaling N126 billion to be pumped into circulation by today.
However, the request of the CBN could not be met because “the Mint doesn’t have the capacity.”
In a statement on Saturday signed by its Director, Corporate Communications, Osita Nwanisobi, the CBN, said, at no time did Emefiele disclose this during his presentation to the National Council of State at its meeting on Friday, February 10, 2023.
The statement reads partly, “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.
“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 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.
“Similarly, there is a misleading voice note trending in social media alleging that the CBN planned to shut down some banks, particularly in a particular geo-political 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.
