The Debate: Introduction of N5,000 notes vs Inflation in Nigeria

Most Nigerians are against the introduction of the N5000 note into the nation’s money market citing inflation and political corruption as a dashboard.

Minister of Planning, Shamsudeen Usman, who spoke to journalists at the meeting of the Economic Management Team on Tuesday said that President Goodluck Jonathan had approved the proposal to print the N5000 denomination. He added that government would push ahead with the printing.

Just on Tuesday, about 500 protesters led by a former member of the House of Representatives, Dino Melaye, demonstrated in front of the CBN office in Abuja against the N5000 note. Melaye, said the proposed N5000 note would send a wrong signal about the worth of the Naira.

Federal Government last year spent about N47b printing smaller currency notes and would like to reduce the cost by introduction of the N5,000 notes. The CBN also argued that there is absolutely no link between inflation and the currency denomination.

The introduction of the N5,000 notes is a good policy, but in a country like Nigeria with no accountability and corruption at its highest peak, It may just be another device for the government and those in power to steal more money.

The naira snapped three days of declines on inflows and on bets the central bank will support the currency as reserves increased.
The currency of Africa’s biggest oil producer climbed 0.1 percent to 158.38 per dollar as of 3:35 p.m. in Lagos, the commercial capital. The naira has climbed 2.5 percent this year, the second-best performer in Africa, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.