By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
The senate committee on banking, insurance, and other financial institutions, says there is no plan by the national assembly to transfer interest rate decisions from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to a committee.
Some reports have alleged that lawmakers want to strip the CBN of the decision to fix interest rates and assign the task to a team headed by the minister of finance.
In a statement on Friday, Prof Uche Uwaleke, special adviser to the chairman, senate committee on banking, insurance, and other financial institutions, said the reports are false.
He said, “My attention has been drawn to a misleading report currently circulating in the media that the National Assembly plans to transfer interest rate decisions from the CBN to a Committee to be chaired by the Minister of Finance.
“The fact is that the amendment Bill proposes a Coordinating Committee as an institutional framework for the alignment of fiscal and monetary policies. Its aim is neither to usurp the roles of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank nor weaken the instrument independence of the CBN.
“For the avoidance of doubt, section 12 of the current Act establishes the Monetary Policy Committee, as well as stipulates its functions and composition. These provisions are all retained in the amendment Bill. READ ALSO:
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“Be that as it may, let me seize this opportunity to inform you that in view of the controversy this has generated, the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions has postponed the planned public hearing to allow for further consultations with and inputs from key stakeholders”.
