The committee, which ended its 266th meeting on Tuesday in Abuja voted to cut the benchmark rate by 50 bps – the first time since September 2015.
The Governor of the CBN, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, who announced the decision of the committee at the end of a two-day meeting stated that six out of the 11 members who attended the meeting agreed to reduce the current monetary policy stance.
Emefiele said that the committee retained the Cash Reserves Ratio at 22.5 percent, while the Liquidity Ratio was left at 30 percent and the Asymmetric Window was left at +200 and -500 basis points around the MPR.
According to Emefiele, the Committee considered developments in the global and domestic economy since its last meeting, including weaker global growth momentum, Dovish global central banks, and moderating U.S treasury yield.
On the domestic front, the Committee noted the sustained drop in headline inflation rate in February to 11.3%, elevated crude oil prices and stable production, foreign exchange stability amid strong external reserves and the sustained GDP growth.
He added that whilst the committee expressed its satisfaction with the inflationary downtrend, it emphasized that growth remained largely fragile and stressed the need to support the ailing growth picture.