Truly, knocks have trailed the freshly redesigned naira notes almost at launch.

Consumertrics reminds you that the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, on October 26, 2022, announced that new Naira notes would be introduced to replace the current 200, 500, and 1,000 Naira notes.

The CBN governor did also hint that existing notes would seize to be regarded as legal tender by January 31, 2023.

Prancing around the reactions from the general public, Nigerians, analysts and the organised private sector didn’t really spare the CBN and the government in their effort to give the Nigerian legal tender a new deserved face especially now that the common man could hardly get some crumbs, let alone the purported three square meals daily.

While everyone may be right in their expressed opinions, there is also the urgent need that Nigerians do not throw away the baby with the bath water as we would say in the local Naija parlance.

Let’s say, we should all pause for once and see issues from the government’s own side.

Speaking during the 2022 workshop for finance correspondents in Port Harcourt, themed: “Boosting depositors’ confidence amidst emerging issues and challenges in the banking industry,” the Director of Currency Operations in the CBN, Ahmed Umar, affirmed the government didn’t do a shoddy job. Rather, it had to redesign the notes to curb counterfeiting, hoarding and other security challenges.

“The ink is a newer technology with security features. The main purpose for redesigning was to solve a problem, and we had limited time to solve that problem or we would sink. We don’t care about aesthetics,” the CBN Director of Currency Operations cleared.

Let’s even take up the issue of money hoarding. Does it really benefit the common man when people hide away, money they have stolen? The straight answer to this question is a capital NO.

It then means that if there is one thing we should all hail the apex bank for concerning the new notes, it is for this singular reason that, it thought with the common man’s cap on!

Implications for the common man when people hoard money

Not to waste your time, when people hoard money, it can have a number of implications for the broader economy and society as a whole. Here are a few examples:

1. Reduced spending: When people hoard money, they are less likely to spend it on goods and services, which can lead to slower economic growth and fewer job opportunities.
2. Increased inequality: Hoarding money by the wealthy can contribute to growing income and wealth inequality, as the wealthy accumulate a larger share of the economic pie while the less well-off struggle to make ends meet.
3. Reduced investment: When people hoard money, they are less likely to invest it in productive assets such as businesses or real estate which trickle down to the people. This can lead to slower economic growth and fewer opportunities for others to build wealth.
4. Reduced lending: When people hoard money, they are less likely to lend it to others, which can make it more difficult for people and businesses to access the capital they need to grow and invest.
5. Reduced monetary policy effectiveness: Hoarding of money by people and wealthy firms also affect the monetary policy to increase or decrease the interest rate which impact the overall economy. Can you now see why they told you, the naira redesign would help curb inflation?

These are just a few examples of the ways that hoarding money can have negative effects on the broader economy, society and the citizenry.

It’s worth noting, however, that there may also be positive effects of hoarding money, such as increased savings. But of what good is it if money does not get to the hungry man in the street and even to the rest of us?