THE Central Bank of Nigeria has left its Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), its base interest rate, unchanged at 14 per cent.
According to the bank, the descision results from the the determination to ensure full impact of the recent policies enunciated by the apex bank, which has been battling for some months now to stabilise the exchange rates of the naira.
Speaking at an interactive session with Journalists after the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting in Abuja,
CBN Governor, Godwin Emiefele, at an intractive session with journalists in Abuja on Tuesday, expressed optimism that the recession corridor would come to an end by the third quarter of 2017.
The Governor said, “In consideration of the challenges weighing down the domestic economy and the uncertainty in the global environment, the Committee decided by a unanimous vote of eight members in attendance to retain the MPR at 14 per cent, alongside all other parameter
“MPR at 14 per cent. Retain Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) at 22.5 per cent. Retain liquidity ratio at 30 per cent and Retain the asymmetric corridor at plus 200 and minus 500 basis points around the MPR.”
He said that the Committee’s unwillingness to change the benchmark rate in any fundamental manner is based on the current economic policy configuration and the need to allow the existing policies to fully achieve their intended goals and objectives.
In another development, CBN has injected the sum of $186.5million into the invisible and the whole Wholesale Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS) segments of the forex market.
The sum is made up of $36.5 million in the invisibles, $50m for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) segments and $100 in the wholesale segment.
