Nigeria, Feb. 3 -- The Central Bank of Nigeria on Saturday refuted claims alleging that the Nigerian government is contemplating the conversion of $30 billion in domiciliary deposits to naira.

According to a statement by the Acting Director of Corporate Communications, Hakama Ali, the claim has been circulating in a national newspaper.

"The attention of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has been drawn to a story published by a national newspaper alleging that the Federal Government is considering converting $30bn domiciliary deposits to Naira," it said.

The bank said the allegation is false and only aims to trigger panic in the foreign exchange market, which the CBN is working assiduously to stabilise, as evidenced by its recent work a...