The federal government has denied reports that it is mulling converting $30 billion in the domiciliary accounts in various banks to naira.
The rebuttal came form the Minister of Finance and Co-ordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun on Saturday.
Edun spoke after The Punch Newspaper claimed that the government was planning to convert the $30 billion in various domiciliary accounts in commercial banks belonging to individuals and corporate entities to stabilize the naira.
The Tinubu administration has been mulling various options to end the free fall of the naira which worsened this week when the national currency fell to an all time low of over N1,500 to the American dollar.
Reacting to the report, Edun stated in a statement that the report was false, describing it as the worst form of irresponsible journalism.
The minister response also comes after the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, through its spokesperson, Sidi Ali described the report as ‘fake’.
According to Edun: “There is no iota of truth in the claims of Punch Newspaper that the Federal Government plans to convert foreign exchange in depositors’ domiciliary accounts to naira. “The publication of such falsehood at a time when the government is working to restore economic stability and confidence in the national currency is tantamount to economic sabotage.
“This report in the Punch Newspaper violates the standards of responsible journalism and it is a breach which will no doubt be taken up by the appropriate authorities in due course.
“For the avoidance of doubt, I emphasize that depositors’ foreign currency in their domiciliary accounts will not be converted to naira.”
The naira gained considerably on Thursday after the CBN ordered commercial banks to auction dollars in their vaults.
