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The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has allayed the fears of Nigerians over purported plans to convert foreign currencies in their domiciliary accounts to naira.
The CBN assured Nigerians that there are no such plans in the pipeline.
The apex bank said this in reaction to reports making the rounds that the government is considering issuing an order to compel the conversion of foreign currencies sitting idly in individuals’ and corporate organisations’ domiciliary accounts to naira to stabilise the nation's currency.
The naira has been on a downward trajectory since the government embarked on reforms in the financial sector. The national currency depreciated to an all-time low in the parallel market on Tuesday, January 31, exchanging for ₦1,490 against the USD.
Following the development, the CBN deployed a raft of measures to arrest the naira slide, including a directive to Deposit Money Banks (DMBs), ordering them to sell their excess dollar stock, latest February 1, 2024.
The apex bank's reactions triggered the suspicion of many citizens, who anticipated that the next line of action would be to come for the domiciliary accounts.
The fear was heightened by a report from a media platform (not Pulse) on Saturday, February 3, 2024, speculating that the CBN was planning to convert $30bn in domiciliary accounts of citizens at a rate to be determined by the apex bank itself.
Quoting a presidency source in the know of the alleged plan, the platform said the government has a growing concern over the forex scarcity and had identified the elite as the culprits.
But, reacting in a post on its X (formerly Twitter) account, the CBN described the report as fake news.
"No plans to convert $30bn domiciliary deposits to naira. This news is fake!" the apex bank quoted the news post.