Emefiele: Redesigned Naira has doused kidnapping, Ransom-taking

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, has stated that the recent release of three redesigned naira notes has reduced kidnapping and ransom-taking by armed men.

Emefiele, speaking at the apex bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting in Abuja opined that ‘kidnapping and ransom-taking have somehow reduced’ whilst applauding security agents for ‘doing a fantastic job.’

He said, ‘I think it (naira redesign) has slowed those people down because they know that if they collect old notes, nobody is going to collect it from them. So, it might as well as think of other ways’.

The CBN chief also said there was no going back on the January 31, 2023 deadline for the validity of the old N200, N500 and N1,000 notes.

He said there is no reason for the nation’s currency in circulation to rise from N1.4 trillion to N3.2 trillion in seven years, saying that some persons are hoarding the naira and embracing currency speculation.

“There is no reason why currency in circulation will grow from N1.4 trillion to N3.2 trillion in seven years,” the CBN governor said.

“People are hoarding it, people are keeping vaults in their homes. We cannot allow them to be banks in their homes; they don’t have the license to build bank vaults in their homes.

“They should release that money back to CBN because what they are doing is that they are undermining monetary policy. They are keeping it and speculating against our currency and it is making our work difficult in CBN.”

Speaking on the  MPC’s resolve to focus on the weak and the vulnerable in the society, Emefiele announced that the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) interest rates has been raised from 16.5% to 17.5 per cent to tame inflation.