CBN Insists Rate Hike to 15.5% Not Textbook Economics

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has played down talks that its decision to increase the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) by 1.50 per cent to 15.50 per cent from 14.00 per cent was purely academic or textbook economics.

On Tuesday, September 27, 2022, the apex bank raised the interest rate after its two-day Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting in Abuja to tame inflation, which stood at 20.52 per cent in August.

The committee also increased the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) by 7.50 per cent to 32.5 per cent from 27.5 per cent in an aggressive move to ease the supply of funds in the financial system, which the bank believes was fuelling inflation in the country.

Before the rate hike this week, other central banks across the world had taken a similar step, and it was projected that Nigeria would follow suit without taking a critical look into the peculiar nature of the causes of inflation in the country, which include insecurity in the northern part of the nation, foreign exchange (FX) scarcity, and flooding, among others.

But the CBN has reacted to this, emphasising that different factors were taken into consideration before agreeing to jerk the rate higher by 150 basis points two days ago.

Speaking at the post-MPC hybrid media briefing in Abuja, the Director of the Monetary Policy Department of the CBN, Mr Hassan Mahmud, emphasised that the peculiarities of the Nigeria economy were taken into consideration at the gathering, noting that excess liquidity banks would always trigger a hike in rate.

“The CBN was very mindful of this and making sure that this is highly moderated because it’s also fuelling the liquidity we have within the system,” he stated.

Mr Mahmoud insisted that the volume of money in circulation was too much as this would continue to drive up prices, adding that the main objective of the CBN’s aggressive rates hike was to make the cost of funds more expensive.

On his part, the Director of the Banking Supervision Department at the apex bank, Mr Haruna Mustafa, expressed optimism that the latest increases in MPR and CRR would yield positive results.

According to him, the major problem in Nigeria is inflation, and when this is brought down, things will get better.

Mr Mustafa explained that the CRR serves monetary and prudential functions and will have far-reaching implications for the economy.

According to him, the decision of the MPC was complimentary to what had been done to rein in inflation, and they are not conflicting policy goals. They are complementary and work in line with our earlier intention.