eNaira not a threat to financial stability — CBN

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has assured Nigerians its digital currency, eNaira, posed no threat to financial stability.

The Director, Corporate Communications Department of CBN, Dr Isa AbdulMumin, said this on Monday in Marrakech.

AbdulMumin was reacting to a recent media report that raised concerns about Nigeria’s Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), eNaira, indicating potential risks to financial stability.

The media report, quoting articles from a book recently released by the CBN indicated that in spite its success in narrowing the country’s financial inclusion gap, the eNaira was a potential threat to financial stability.

It said that since its inception, bank deposit conversion to eNaira had exhibited an average monthly growth of 78.3 per cent and totaled about N1.66 billion.

According to Abdulmumin, a review of the report indicates a lack of understanding of some portions of some articles in a book recently released by the CBN titled, “Economics of Digital Currencies’’.

“A recurring theme in the book is the interest of regulators such as CBN in the role of crypto currencies as speculative investments and the potential threat they harbour for financial stability.

“The articles in the book provide an in-depth understanding of CBDCs generally, and the workings of the Naira,’’ he said.

The director assured that as the eNaira structure continued to evolve, it was undergoing modifications targeted at improving the user experience “across all interfaces’’.

“We encourage Nigerians to embrace the technology for among other things, greater financial inclusion,’’ AbdulMumin said.

Recall that the eNaira was initiated by the former CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele and inaugurated in October 2021 by former President Muhammadu Buhari.

Nigeria is the first African country to adopt the CBDC.