The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mallam Lamido Sanusi, on Tuesday, described former President Olusegun Obasanjo as “a very bad economist.”
He added that he was surprised that the former President could oppose the proposed N5,000 note given that the high currency denominations in the country, including N1000 note, came into being during his (Obasanjo) regime.
Sanusi, while speaking at the sixth annual conference of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria in Abuja, said Obasanjo misinterpreted the impact of the proposed N5000 note on the economy when he argued that it would cause inflation.
“This is an interesting country because my uncle or my father, who is our former Head of State, Gen. Obasanjo, you know he is a very successful farmer, but he is a very bad economist. He stand up and says that this higher denomination (N5000 note) will cause inflation and improve hardship,” Sanusi told the conference participants.
Obasanjo had at a roundtable advocacy forum organised by the Institute of Directors, Nigeria, in Lagos, last Thursday submitted that the N5000 note would kill production and affect small businesses negatively.
He said the way Sanusi is fighting inflation by removing money from circulation was improper.
The former President wondered why the CBN wanted to introduce the new notes and said if all that the bank was focused on was to fight inflation, “then it will kill production.”
He said, “I understand that now he is focused on fighting inflation, which is a good idea. But if this (N5000 note) and all that he is focused on is fighting inflation, it will kill production.”
But Sanusi said, “Gen. Obasanjo did N20, he did N100, N200, N500 and N1,000. He introduced higher denominations in Nigeria than any other head of state. He did a N100 note in 1999, he did N200 in 2000, he did N500 two years later and in that period inflation was coming down because it was accompanied by prudent fiscal and monetary policy.
“For somebody (Obasanjo) who had done this to stand up and say introducing a higher denomination will cause inflation must be an empirical, most important determinant of inflation in our country given the number of notes he had printed."
Sanusi said those opposing the N5000 were ignorant of its benefits, adding that its introduction would lead to efficiency of the country’s payment system since the policy is targeted at a small number of Nigerians handling huge cash.
“This is an interesting country because my uncle or my father, who is our former Head of State, Gen. Obasanjo, you know he is a very successful farmer, but he is a very bad economist. He stand up and says that this higher denomination (N5000 note) will cause inflation and improve hardship,” Sanusi told the conference participants.
Obasanjo had at a roundtable advocacy forum organised by the Institute of Directors, Nigeria, in Lagos, last Thursday submitted that the N5000 note would kill production and affect small businesses negatively.
He said the way Sanusi is fighting inflation by removing money from circulation was improper.
The former President wondered why the CBN wanted to introduce the new notes and said if all that the bank was focused on was to fight inflation, “then it will kill production.”
He said, “I understand that now he is focused on fighting inflation, which is a good idea. But if this (N5000 note) and all that he is focused on is fighting inflation, it will kill production.”
But Sanusi said, “Gen. Obasanjo did N20, he did N100, N200, N500 and N1,000. He introduced higher denominations in Nigeria than any other head of state. He did a N100 note in 1999, he did N200 in 2000, he did N500 two years later and in that period inflation was coming down because it was accompanied by prudent fiscal and monetary policy.
“For somebody (Obasanjo) who had done this to stand up and say introducing a higher denomination will cause inflation must be an empirical, most important determinant of inflation in our country given the number of notes he had printed."
Sanusi said those opposing the N5000 were ignorant of its benefits, adding that its introduction would lead to efficiency of the country’s payment system since the policy is targeted at a small number of Nigerians handling huge cash.
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