Interest rate stays at 11.5%, says CBN

The monetary policy committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria has retained interet rate at 11.5 per cent.
This was part of its decision at its last meeting concluded on Tuesday with committee members voting to peg the MPR at 11.5 per cent – the rate it had been since September 2020.
The governor of the apex bank, Godwin Emefiele, announced the committee’s decision at the end of a two-day meeting at the CBN headquarters in Abuja.
“The MPC made the decision to hold all policy parameters constant. Committee thus decided by a unanimous vote to retain monetary policy rate at 11.5 per cent,” Emefiele said.
He added, “MPC voted to retain asymmetric corridor +100 -700 basis points. It also voted to retain cash reserve ratio at 27.5 per cent and retain liquidity ratio at 30 per cent.”
The action of the CBN monetary policy committee is in line with the recommendation of the IMF.
In its latest World Economic Outlook released on Tuesday, IMF advised central banks to look through transitory inflation pressures and avoid tightening until there is more clarity on underlying price dynamics.
“Clear communication from central banks on the outlook for monetary policy will be key to shaping inflation expectations and safeguarding against premature tightening of financial conditions,” IMF said.
The Washington-based institution projected growth of 2.5 per cent for Nigeria in 2021 on the slow roll-out of vaccines.