It is strictly Dollar for Naira -Sanusi Lamido
The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, yesterday, insisted that Nigerians must accept Naira for dollar transfers.
While answering questions from journalists at the 2013 World Bank/ International Monetary Fund (IMF), annual general meeeting in Washington, he said there was 
nowhere in the world where those sent money from abroad were being paid in foreign currencies, as was the case in Nigeria.
“The interesting thing about our country is that we try to be different from others in the world. If you are in the UK and somebody transfers money to you from the United States, in what currency do you get paid in London? Obviously you get paid in pounds.”
“There is no where in the world where you go to a bank and because you got a transfer, you insist on being paid in that currency”.
Sanusi also expressed his reservation on revisiting introduction of the N5000 currency note into the Nigerian economy. He said despite his conviction that it makes economic sense to print the higher denomination, the CBN would not revisit the matter.
“On 5000 Naira note I have said I would not revisit. I made all the arguments at the time I made them. You have had inflation in double digits for a very long time, this has weakened the purchasing power of the national currency and therefore means you are carrying much more currency than you need to carry to carry out your transaction.
“You go to an ATM, you want N100,000 you have to take 100 notes, those notes have a cost and printing those notes you are paying for the paper, paying for the security features, paying for transportation and paying for security while transporting them. And then the CBN is going to pay for destruction of those notes (when they become old and tattered”.
“People got up and made statements, professional institutions, accountants, saying ‘this is inflationary.” I don’t know when accountants became economists, I don’t know when changing denomination became the same as increasing money supply, but in a country in which the decisions are not taken based on the soundness of an argument but on sentiments, I can’t help it. If Nigerians would rather carry Ghana- must- go bags on their backs, that is fine. If they would rather we continue pending money printing these notes, that is fine” Mallam Sanusi concluded.
