Again, CBN retains lending rate at 11.5%

BY EMEKA EJERE

The monetary policy committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has voted to retain the monetary policy rate (MPR), at 11.5 percent, CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, has disclosed.

MPR is the baseline interest rate in an economy, which influences every other interest rate used within an economy.

Emefiele, who was addressing journalists after the committee’s two-day meeting in Abuja on Tuesday, said, “The MPC believes that the existing parameters have supported the growth recovery and should be allowed to continue for a little longer for consolidation to achieve the committee’s mandate of price stability conducive for growth.

“Therefore by unanimous vote, the MPC voted as follows, one, retain MPR at 11.5 per cent; retain the asymmetric corridor of +100/-700 basis points around the MPR; retain the CRR at 27.5 per cent; and retain the Liquidity Ratio at 30 per cent.

He said the committee commended the output growth in the last two quarters and urged the apex bank to continue to sustain current efforts to revamp the economy through various interventions.

The committee also reiterated the need to remain cautious and called on the fiscal authority to sustain interventions that would normalise the country’s economy in the short to medium term.