As the United States dollars continue to rise and Nigeria’s naira falls on a weekly basis, former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) deputy governor, Professor Kingsley Moghalu has disclosed that before theyear ends, a $1 will trade at N1000.
Newsonline reports that the professor of political economics, Moghalu, also disclosed that the chances of the redesign of the new naira notes affecting the naira values abound.
Professor Moghalu stated this on Thursday morning while speaking on RadioNow programme.
“Regarding the impact of the currency redesign on the value of the naira, I and many others foresaw this. But the problem with the value of the naira is more fundamental. Even without this currency redesign, I predicted many months ago that the naira hit 1000 naira to $1 by the end of this year just based on economic fundamentals,” he said.
The former CBN deputy governor said that Nigerians have the right to question the successfulness and timing of the new naira notes design.
He, however, said the Finance Minister, Ahmed Zainab, has no right to demand consultation from the CBN management before they carry out monetary policies for the country.
Moghalu said, ‘Nigerians can question whether Central Bank Nigeria currency redesign will be successful or even the timing, but not whether they have the mandate to do so or that they must consult Finance Minister Ahmed Zainab.
“The CBN is an independent statutory corporation,” he said, adding “It is not a Ministry, Department, or Agency (MDA). Many people don’t understand this.”
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The former deputy governor of the CBN blamed the leadership on politicizing itself by the CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, entering into partisan politics.
“The nature and functions of central banking require this independence. I suspect that part of why the currency redesign has been so controversial is that there is a trust deficit between the Nigerian public and the current leadership of the Bank, which needlessly politicized the bank. This also is a function of the kind of political leadership and government we have,” he added.
Moghalu speaking on how the redesign will affect the value of the naira said, “But as I said, on this matter the CBN is well within its rights. Will the move succeed? I don’t know. If it is 50-60% successful that would be great in reality, because many vested interests in Nigeria, some pure criminals, have a spectacular capacity for negative innovation.
Moghalu suggested that the CBN have to extend the window from December 15 and January 31, 2022, to a 90 days window.
He added, “Again, as I have said, the time window between December 15 and January 31 2023 is a bit short. A 90-day window would have been more ideal, and so the move should perhaps have come earlier so as not to have a disruptive effect on the 2023 elections in February.”
He further added on the value that “the redesign is a temporary operation, so its own specific impact of naira value will be temporary. We will then return to the real issues about naira value. That requires a complete overhaul of economic thinking and management.”
