Experts differ on CBN’s plans to print currency to finance budget

Plans by the Central Bank of Nigeria to print more local currency to finance the 2021 national budget has attracted reactions from experts.

There have been calls from diverse opinions in the country in support of currency printing amid inadequate resources to fund the budget.

Global rating agency, Fitch, in a recent report, had faulted the option, saying that printing more currency was a risk to Nigeria’s macroeconomic stability.

But in a statement said to have been issued in Freetown, the Sierra Leonean capital and circulated in the media in Abuja on Monday, a former Vice President of Sierra Leone, Mr Sam Sumana was quoted to have commended the CBN’s planned action, describing it as practical monetary intervention.

According to Sumana, the planned move by the CBN would not only help Nigeria stabilise its economy but would also bring stability to the economies of West African countries.

The Sierra Leonean leader was further quoted to have described the move by the apex bank as noble and that the CBN and its governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, should be commended for the initiative, instead of criticising the effort.

He noted that the CBN governor had demonstrated commitment to expanding national and regional economic growth agenda