By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has again retained the policy lending rate at 11.5 per cent as it did at its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting in January, 2021.
The bank also retained other parameters – the asymmetric corridor of +100/-700 basis points around the MPR; the CRR at 27.5 per cent and the Liquidity Ratio at 30 per cent.
The CBN governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, announced this on Tuesday after the 228th Monetary Policy Committee(MPC) meeting which began on Monday at the Apex Bank headquarters in Abuja.
However, the decision was not unanimous as some members voted to increase the lending rate to check stagflationary pressure that has seen prices skyrocket across sectors in the country amidst high unemployment.
The authorities had in September 2020 unexpectedly cut the monetary policy rate by 100 basis points to 11.5 per cent from the previously held rate which was 12.5 per cent.
Emefiele had said that the committee’s priority was to boost spendings across different sectors to accelerate economic growth.
The MPC said it was faced with the dilemma of stagflation, inflationary pressure and to continue reversing price stability.
