The Central Bank of Nigeria Just Paused Its Demonetization Program After Visiting Untold Damage on Nigeria’s Economy
(www.nakedcapitalism.com)https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2023/03/the-central-bank-of-nigeria-just-quietly-cancelled-its-demonetisation-program-after-visiting-untold-damage-on-nigerias-economy.htmlThree months after the central bank launched demonetisation, economic conditions in Nigeria continue to deteriorate. Now, one of the country’s leading media organizations is calling for the arrest and prosecution of CBN’s governor.
As readers know, Nigeria is the world’s first largish economy to launch a nationwide central bank digital currency, the so-called eNaira. So far, it has been a complete flop. One year in, just 0.5% of Nigerians had downloaded the eNaira app. Of those, only 8% were actually using it, according to the IMF’s 2022 staff report. So, the government and central bank doubled down on their strategy. In October, they unveiled plans to replace all high-denomination cash bills in the economy as well as restrict cash withdrawals. That, too, has been an unmitigated disaster.
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