Nigeria Central Bank Retains MPC Rate at 11.5%, Sees Slower Inflation
By Bashir Olanrewaju
The Central Bank of Nigeria’s Monetary Policy Committee retained the benchmark interest rate at 11.5 percent at the end of it’s meeting on Tuesday, saying it expected slower inflation this year.
“The MPC feels a hold will signal its realisation of the fragility of the growth recovery and its sensitivity to emerging global and domestic uncertainties,” CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele said at a briefing on the meeting. “After a careful balancing of the benefits and downsides of each policy ratio, the MPC decided to hold all policy parameters constant.”
Emefiele said the increase in the rate of inflation recorded in December was the result of the year-end rush for goods and services, adding that the rate of price increases was expected to be slower through the year.
The CBN is walking a delicate line between exchange-rate pressure and the growing costs in it’s bid to maintain price stability.
Lower receipts from oil, Nigeria’s main export and major source of foreign income, has caused a foreign-currency shortage while depleting government revenue.