The Central Bank of Nigeria has temporarily withdrawn its Monetary, Credit, Foreign Trade, and Exchange Policy Guidelines for the fiscal years 2024-2025, initially released on Tuesday, September 17, 2024.
The bank explained that this decision aims to reduce the risk of misrepresentation or misunderstanding, which could lead to confusion among stakeholders.
This development was announced in a new statement posted on the CBN’s website on Friday. Notably, the statement did not carry the signature of any CBN official.
Earlier, parts of the document suggested that the CBN would continue its Ways and Means Advances to the Federal Government, maintaining a 5% limit for the 2024-2025 fiscal years.
This was in contrast to a recent bill passed by the National Assembly, which raised the borrowing cap from 5% to 10%.
Another contentious element was the reintroduction of the cybersecurity levy, which had been suspended earlier in the year following significant public backlash.
However, the CBN clarified that these guidelines were misinterpreted as new policies, whereas they actually represented a compilation of existing policies and directives valid until December 31, 2023. It added that some policies included in the guidelines have since been revised or replaced.
“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,” the statement read.
“In response, the CBN has temporarily withdrawn the document to minimize risk of any further misrepresentation.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.”
The CBN further explained 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.”
The bank also addressed specific points of confusion, “In the light of these clarifications, we ask stakeholders to note the following: Some recent media publications referencing aspects of the Guidelines refer to policy positions of the Bank issued prior to 31st December 2023, which have changed in the light of revisions and updates in 2024. One example is the Cyber Security Levy, which was suspended in May 2024, superseding the circular reported in the Guidelines.
“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.
“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 statement concluded by reaffirming the CBN’s commitment to providing clear monetary policy direction, “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.”
