The Cash Reserves Ratio ( CRR) also remained unchanged at 22.5%; liquidity at 30% and Asymmetric corridor at +200 and -500 basis points around the MPR.
The CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele who announced this noted that the committee considered the drop in inflation which is seasonal and not sustainable, adding that the upside risk to inflation still remains.
Reading the communique at the end of the two-day MPC meeting at Apex Bank Headquarters in Abuja, Emefiele said eleven members of the committee that attended the meeting voted to maintain the current monetary policy stance.
Speaking on the fourth coming general elections in 2019, the CBN Governor cautioned lending banks against involving in money laundering, adding that severe penalty awaits defaulters.
“On 2019 elections, we had meeting with the banks. We advised them to be very careful on money laundering issue; If they are caught on the issue, they will be heavily penalised. But banks have their rules and criteria; I don’t think banks will do anything that violate the rules. When they go wrong ,we will deal with them”, he stated”.
