The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has temporarily withdrawn its Monetary, Credit, Foreign Trade, and Exchange Policy Guidelines for Fiscal Years 2024-2025 due to misinterpretation and misrepresentation by some stakeholders.
The document, published on September 17, 2024, was met with controversy, particularly regarding the 5% limit on Ways and Means Advances to the Federal Government, contrary to the National Assembly’s bill raising the limit to 10%.
The CBN clarified that the guidelines were a compilation of previously issued policies and directives effective until December 31, 2023, and not new policies. Some policies mentioned have been revised or replaced by newer updates. For instance, the Cyber Security Levy was suspended in May 2024, superseding the circular reported in the guidelines.
The statement read: “The attention of the Central Bank of Nigeria has been drawn to certain instances of misinterpretation or misrepresentation of its biennial publication on Monetary, Credit,
Foreign Trade and Exchange Policy Guidelines published on September 17, 2024.
“In response, the CBN has temporarily withdrawn the document to minimize risk of any further misrepresentation. “As is stated explicitly in the document to guide stakeholders, the CBN reiterates that the publication is a compilation of previously issued policies and guidelines issued by the bank up to a cut-off date, typically December 31 of the relevant year.
“As in all previous editions, the current document is intended to achieve the following objectives: A single reference source for the ease and convenience of stakeholders. A valid compilation of policies, directives, and guidelines for adjudication in conflict situations involving stakeholders.”
It stated further that “as a compendium of previously issued policies and guidelines, the provisions are applicable only to the extent that there have been no updates or revisions to the guidelines and policies contained therein. This is stated explicitly in the document to guide stakeholders.
“In line with prior editions, the most recent publication (January 2024) contains policies and guidelines issued by the Bank up to 31st December 2023, some of which will remain relevant
during the period 2024 – 2025.”
“Certain technical aspects of the guidelines have been widely misreported and misrepresented. For example, reports have mistakenly sought to link the fuel subsidy removal to external reserves. Such reports essentially missed the analytical basis for the original statement, which was intended to observe a potential risk that was to be mitigated by the policy. More recently, policies of the Bank around the Naira exchange rate and those of the fiscal authorities have positively altered the outlook of the subject in question.
The CBN urges stakeholders to seek clarification before publishing and views the guidelines as a record of policies, circulars, and directives issued up to the end of 2023, not new directives.
“In summary, the guidelines must primarily be viewed as a record of policies, circulars and directives issued by the bank up to the end of 2023. They are not new directives and should not be reported as such.”
“The Bank will continue to provide clear monetary policy direction and advice for the overall good of the Economy. We urge all stakeholders to seek clarification of information about the Bank before publishing,” the statement concluded.
