The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele, has announced that the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the CBN has retained Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) at 12.5 percent.
Emefiele told journalists after the meeting of the MPC on Monday in Abuja that the committee decided to hold other policy parameters constant, leaving the Cash Reserves Ratio (CRR) at 27.5% and the liquidity ratio at 30%
He explained that the earlier loosening to 12.5% in May is yielding positive impact as credit growth increased significantly in the economy and more time needs to be given for the impact to be felt further.
The CBN governor said that the committee retained the asymmetric corridor of +200/-500 basis points around the MPR.
Speaking on the performance of the economy, Emefiele noted that real Growth Domestic Product (GDP) grew marginally by 1.87 percent in the first quarter of 2020 as against 2.25 percent and 2.10 percent in the proceeding and corresponding quarters of 2019.
He attributed the decline in output growth to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the drop in the oil prices which was also caused by the shock from the pandemic.
According to him, the performance was largely driven by 5.06 percent growth in the oil sector and 1.55 percent growths in the non-oil sector.
GIK/APA