MPC: Experts Expect No Rise In Interest Rate

Financial experts have said they expect the lending rate to either be retained or reduced at the end of the meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria on Tuesday.

The members of the MPC started their two-day meeting on Monday.

An investment professional, Mr Ayodeji Ebo, noted that the MPC was meeting to review the development in the global and domestic space.

“We expect the MPC to maintain status quo to allow for the transmission of the decisions taken at the last meeting in September to the economy,” he said.

A former President, Association of National Accountants of Nigeria, Dr Sam Nzekwe, said a reduction in the lending rates would be helpful.

“They should reduce interest rate because of the inflation,” he said.

While noting that there was imported inflation in the country, he said the naira had also suffered devaluation.

He said, “The banks need to have more money for lending at lower interest rates, so that people will have more money to borrow at lower interest rate.

“Now, we should be talking of increasing investment; if the interest rate is too high and goods are too costly, people will not have access to the funds for investment.”

At the last MPC meeting in September, the committee reduced the Monetary Policy Rate from 12.5 per cent to 11.5 per cent.

It also voted to retain the Cash Reserve Ratio and Liquidity Ratio at 27.5 per cent and 30 per cent respectively.