By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced leaving its benchmark interest rate at 14 percent as predicted by analysts.
This was revealed on Tuesday by the apex bank’s chief, Mr Godwin Emefiele, while briefing newsmen on outcome of the CBN’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting held on Monday and Tuesday in Abuja.
Before the commencement of the meeting, which holds every quarter, many analysts had said that the banking industry watchdog will not tamper with the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) despite signs that the economy was on the path to recovery after being down for over a year.
At the end of the MPC meeting today, Mr Emefiele announced to reporters that the committee voted to retain the headline rate.
He said the cash reserve ratios for commercial banks was kept at 22.5 percent.
“In consideration of the challenges weighing down the domestic economy and the uncertainties in the global environment, the committee decided by a unanimous vote of eight members in attendance to retain the MPR at 14 percent,” Mr Emefiele told newsmen.
“We would prefer a convergence that will go southward rather than northward, but the fact that we have seen the convergence (going) southward gives us a lot of hope that things are working in the right direction,” he said further.
