N5,000 notes wrong signal – Nyagba

Dr Solomon Nyagba, the President of Abuja Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (ABUCCIMA), said yesterday that “the denomination of currencies is not the problem with Nigeria’s economy”.
Nyagba in Abuja said that the planned introduction of N5,000 denomination notes by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was “a wrong signal”.
The CBN on Aug 23 announced that it would introduce N5,000 notes beginning early 2013 as part of its currency restructuring exercise.
Apart from the introduction of the N5,000 note, the apex bank said  it would also convert the existing N10 and N20 notes to coins and thus make the number of coins in the currency system six.
Nyagba said  efforts should be channeled toward promoting local production which would, in turn, strengthen the currency and the economy.
“That is clearly a wrong signal for the economy.
“Denomination is not the issue, the most important step is to encourage local production which will strengthen the currency and rev up the economy.
“Any economy that is dependent on importation will never be stable no matter the size of the denomination,” Nyagba said.
He said he was expressing a personal view but added the chamber would meet to adopt a stand on it.