By Chioma Iruke
Nigeria’s Apex bank, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has retained the country’s Monetary Policy Rate at 11.5 percent.
Governor of the CBN, Godwin Emefiele, disclosed this after the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) two-day meeting in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.
It also retained the Cash Reserve Ratio and Liquidity Ratio at 27.5 percent and 30 percent respectively.
Announcing the committee’s decision, Emefiele said, “the MPC made the decision to hold all parameters constant. The committee thought by unanimous vote to retain the Monetary Policy Rate at 11.5 per cent.
“In summary, 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 MPC weighed the effect of tightening or loosening, noting the impact on output growth and employment among others.
“Members felt that tightening would contract the current level of system liquidity and thus reduce demand pressure on the forex market,” he said.
