The apex bank, at the end of its two-day
bi-monthly meeting on Friday, also retained the cash reserve ratio at 27.5 per
cent, and liquidity ratio at 30 per cent, in line with analysts’ expectation.
The MPR is the rate at which the CBN lends to
commercial banks and often determines the cost of borrowing in the economy.
Addressing journalists on Friday after the
committee’s two-day meeting at the CBN headquarters in Abuja, CBN governor, Godwin
Emefiele, said the committee applauded the fifth decreased in inflation in the
month of August 2021.
According to him the committee unanimously
voted to maintain the key lending rate at 11.5 percent, with the asymmetric
corridor of +100 and -700 basis points around the MPR.
The CBN MPC noted that holding stance would
allow current recovery in output and decline inflation continue.
It urged the fiscal authority not to relent in
its infrastructure initiatives, including diaspora bonds to increase investment
in critical infrastructure.
On Wednesday, the National Bureau of
Statistics (NBS) said the consumer price index (CPI), which measures the rate
of change in prices of goods and services, declined for the fifth consecutive
time to 17.01 percent in August from 17.38 recorded in July.
This rate is 0.37 percent points lower than
17.38 percent recorded last month.
Since March 2021, Nigeria’s inflation rate has
been on downward trends as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) projected it may
drop to 13 percent this year and a single-digit rate by 2022.
On exchange rates, Emefiele said the committee
also applauded the banks on meeting forex demands and that all demands must be
necessarily conducted at the Importer and Exporter (I&E) window to ensure
stability.
He said operators must adhere to stipulated
guidelines as the apex bank strive to eliminate illegal fx dealers in the
country.
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