Nigeria’s Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), the eNaira, is not a threat to the nation’s financial stability, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has clarified.
Rather the apex bank has encouraged Nigerians to embrace the technology for the promotion, amongst other things, greater financial inclusion.
The CBN gave the clarification on Monday in reaction to a syndicated report in some media platforms – traditional and social, suggesting otherwise about the country’s Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).
In a statement by its Director of Corporate Communications, Isa AbdulMumin, the Bank said after a review of the reports, it seemed the insinuations emanated from an obvious lack of understanding of portions of the Foreword, and some articles, in the “Economics of Digital Currencies: A Book of Readings” it released recently.
AbdulMumin said from the review of the publication, it observer a recurring theme in the book, which bordered on the interest of regulators, such as the CBN, in the role of cryptocurrencies as speculative investments, and the potential threats they harbour for financial stability in an economy.
The Director said pursuant to that, the articles in the book provided an in-depth understanding of CBDCs generally, and the workings of the eNaira in particular, highlighting issues and challenges in their implementation and adoption.
He noted the highlight of one of the media reports, which focused on concerns about Nigeria’s central bank digital currency, eNaira, indicating potential risks to financial stability, despite its success in narrowing the country’s financial inclusion gap.
“The nexus implied is unconvincing. In the ordinary course of things, the CBN does not join issues on news commentary,” AbdulMumin said.
“However, we are constrained to clarify the reports to ensure that misunderstandings are not fostered,” he added.
The eNaira structure, the CBN spokesperson explained, continues to evolve and undergo modifications targeted at improving the user experience across all interfaces.
“We encourage Nigerians to embrace the technology for, amongst other things, greater financial inclusion,” he advised.
