Following low consumer spending, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has again retained interest rate at 11.5 per cent.
The MPC also retained the asymmetric corridor of +100/-700 basis points around the MPR; the CRR at 27.5 per cent; the Liquidity Ratio at 30 per cent.
The CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, announced the committee’s decision on Tuesday, at the end of its 227th two-day meeting held in Abuja.
The authorities had in September 2020 unexpectedly cut the monetary policy rate by 100 basis points to 11.5 per cent from the previously-held rate, which was 12.5 per cent.
According to economic experts, this was an unconventional policy adopted by the apex bank
to checkmate the inflationary pressure on the Nigerian economy.
Inflation currently stands at 15.75 per cent.
CBN Governor Emefiele said the committee’s priority was to boost spendings across different sectors to accelerate economic recovery.
The committee also urged the banks to boost lending to aid recovery.
The MPC said it was faced with the dilemma of stagflation, inflationary pressure and to continue reversing price stability.
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