By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
The Central Bank of Nigeria on Tuesday retained its benchmark lending rate at 11.5 per cent as predicted by experts.
CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele disclosed this at the 282nd Monetary Policy Committee meeting held at the apex bank’s headquarters in Abuja.
Emefiele said tightening the rates will affect output growth, while reducing the benchmark lending rate will fuel inflationary pressures.
The CBN Governor said the committee noted the moderation in headline inflation to 16.63 per cent in September and 15.99 per cent in October.
He said despite the fall, inflation remains above the tolerance level of 6 to 9 per cent levels targeted by the CBN.
He said the MPC advises both fiscal and monetary authorities to continue with their intervention efforts in the Nigerian economy.
According to Emefiele, the committee commended banks and appealed to them to upscale their loans to businesses through the targeted credit facility.
He revealed that the power outages and resurgence of Covid-19 in China, which is Nigeria’s major market partner will affect the Nigerian economy.
The CBN boss said the asymmetric corridor of +100/-700 basis points around the MPR was retained.
The Cash Reserve Ratio was also held at 27.5 per cent, while Liquidity Ratio was also kept at 30 per cent.
