The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, has put some of the blame for the naira scarcity to politicians hoarding the notes for political purposes.
He made the statement while addressing the diplomatic community on the recent CBN policy decisions on Tuesday in Abuja.
Emefiele also said the agitations noticed because of the naira scarcity are staged or sponsored propaganda.
While conceding that the policy might have affected a lot of people, Emefiele said the CBN is working hard to help ease the tension. The policy he explained, was expected to cause deflation in the market due to less currency outside the banking sector which was retarding money circulation.
Notably, he stated that the naira redesign had started yielding fruits as price inflation was coming down in the country. Emefiele said the decline in money supply was slowing inflation growth.
He cited market instances for this observation:
He is quoted:
“The price for soya beans has dropped from N30,000 to N22,000. Maize from N18,000 to N16,000. The price of a bull fell from N400,000 to N330,000 and ram from N75,000 to N50,000.”
