An economic expert, Bismarck Rewane, has projected a three-to-five-percent drop in the gross domestic product (GDP) of Q1 2023 as a direct result of the naira swap policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The CBN, in October 2022, announced that it would redesign the N200, N500, and N1,000 banknotes with a January 31 ultimatum set for the old notes. President Muhammadu Buhari’s unveiled the redesigned notes the following month.
Though the Central Bank extended the deadline by 10 days, resulting nationwide scarcity fueled outrage amid point-of-sales (PoS) charge hikes and reports of several banking outlets hoarding the new notes.
The Supreme Court later ordered the apex bank to suspend implementation of the deadline.
Rewane, who is the CEO of Financial Derivatives Company Limited, shared some insights of the policy’s effects during a live appearance on The 2023 Verdict, Channels Television’s special election programme.