The Chief Whip of the Osun State House of Assembly, Hon 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.
Hon Olatunji, who is a financial expert, stressed that the apex bank could not sterilize currency in its vault without making available enough currency to run the daily activities required nationally and not expect consequences, especially stifling economic growth.
Addressing newsmen in Osogbo, Hon Olatunji said the redesign policy was a good move but its implementation must be done carefully to avoid the hardship Nigerians are currently experiencing.
“The current naira redesign policy is a good one but how the Central Bank of Nigeria is going about its implementation will stifle the economy and result in 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 two trillion naira out of the economy and injecting about N500 billion into the system without transparency will stifle the economy and create an unnecessary bottleneck for people that want to access money to run their daily activities.
“Presently, people that ought to be at their various places of work, to be actively productive are now in queues for 5 to 8 hours at banks to get N2000. This amounts to wasting valuable time doing nothing. At this rate, the nation’s productivity will crumble as it happened in India in 2016 when the economy lost over one million jobs due to the demonetization of their currency.
“The CBN ought to have learnt 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 needs or allow the old currency continue to be a legal tender till it is able to resolve the present crisis”, he added.
The legislator commended President Muhammadu Buhari for addressing the nation on the policy but however added that the president should have shown more magnanimity by extending the circulation to five hundred naira too, saying extending two hundred naira alone might not be enough to caution the effect of the policy.
Adenitan Akinola
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