A former governor of the CBN, Charles Soludo has thrown his weight behind the currency redesigned policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Soludo who spoke yesterday on a Channels Television programme monitored by Investors King noted that the redesign policy falls within the responsibility of the apex bank. 

When asked about his opinion on the redesigned currency, Soludo who is now the governor of Anambra State stated that his state will key into the policy and respond to it appropriately.

The former CBN boss further noted that as a CBN governor himself, he supervised the redesigning of the N5, N10, N20, and N50 denominations and changed their texture to polymer. 

While he revealed that the new policy might be for security reasons, he added that he also introduced the N1000 denomination which is the country’s highest. 

It would be recalled that the central bank has rolled out a policy to redesign a portion of the naira notes which include N100, N200, N500, and N1000 denominations. 

While addressing pressmen, the CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele disclosed that the redesign policy is in the overall economic interest of Nigerians. 

The apex bank boss noted that the policy will help to address insecurity, counterfeiting, and hoarding. 

Emefiele revealed that some Nigerians are hoarding a significant portion of the naira note outside the vaults of commercial banks.

Describing the development as worrisome, Emefiele noted that as of September 2022, a total of N3.2 trillion was in circulation, of which N2.73 trillion was outside the vaults of the banks. 

This he noted represents about 80 percent of the currency in circulation that is outside the vaults of the commercial banks.

Subsequently, the apex bank asked Nigerians to visit their commercial banks in order to deposit their currency notes ahead of the December deadline. 

The apex bank further explained that both the new and existing notes would remain legal tender and circulate together until January 31, 2023, when the existing currencies shall cease to be legal tender.