Why CBN Should Review Implementation Of Naira Redesign Policy, By Olatunji

By Segun Ojo, Osogbo

A financial expert, Tunde Olatunji has called for caution in the implementation of the naira redesign policy by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, in order not to crash the economy.

Olatunji who is the Chief Whip of Osun State House of Assembly, stressed that the apex bank cannot sterilize currency in its vault without making available enough currency to run the daily activities required nationally and not expect consequences, especially stifle economic growth.
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Fielding questions from newsmen in Osogbo, yesterday, Olatunji said the redesign policy is a good move but its implementation must be done carefully to avoid negative output as Nigerians are currently experiencing.

“The current naira redesign policy is a good one but the way the Central Bank of Nigeria go about its implementation will stifle the economy and result to negative economic consequences.

“Money is the blood that runs economic activities and once you drain the blood, the economy will suffer and Nigerians would bear most of the brunt, hence, you are walking back into the reason you talk about the policy in the first instance.

“Presently, mopping over N2trillion out of the economy and inject about N500 billion into the system without transparency will stifle the economy and create unnecessary bottleneck for people that want to access money to run their daily activities.
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“Presently, people that ought to be at their various places of work, to be actively productive are now on queues for 5 to 8 hours at banks to get N2000. This amount to wasting valuable time doing nothing. At this rate, the nation’s productivity will crumble like it happened in India in 2016 when the economy lost over one million job due to demonetization of their currency.

“The CBN ought to have learn from the Indian experience. It has all the necessary statistics available to study and curb the present conundrum the masses are stacked in. In my view, the implementation needs serious review, it is either the Central Bank makes available enough currency for Nigerians daily need or allow the old currency continue to be a legal tender till it is able to resolve the present crisis”, he added.