CBN Keeps Rates at 14% for 9th Consecutive Time

By Dipo Olowookere

For the 9th consecutive time, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Tuesday announced that it was retaining the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) at 14 percent.

The apex bank made this known at the end of its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting in Abuja.

While addressing newsmen after the two-day meeting today, Governor of the CBN, Mr Godwin Emefiele, stated that apart from the MPR at 14 percent, the committee also resolved to hold the CRR at 22.50 percent, Liquidity Ratio at 30 percent, and the Asymmetric Window at +200 basis point and -500 basis points around the MPR.

Mr Emefiele explained that eight out of the nine members of the committee that attended the meeting agreed to maintain the current monetary policy stance.

He said the remaining one member of the MPC voted for an increase in the rates.

Some financial and economic analysts had predicted lowering of the rates as a result of a further drop in the inflation rate in April 2018 to 12.48 percent from 13.34 percent in March 2018.