Ebun Francis || The monetary policy committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in its last meeting for the year and for the sixth consecutive time retained the monetary policy rate at 14 percent.
The apex bank also left the cash reserve ratio (CRR) at 22.5 percent.
The CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele made the disclosure on Tuesday while announcing the decision of the committee in Abuja.
According to Emefiele, only one of the nine members of the committee voted against the decision.
The committee, according to him advised policymakers not to relent in their “aggressive initiatives aimed at continuing the positive growth”.
It also called for an early passage of the 2018 budget to “keep fiscal policy on track”.
The apex bank governor also noted that the committee expressed concerns about the caution exercised by banks in lending money to customers.
Emefiele said, “Tightening would strengthen the impact of monetary policy on inflation with complementary effects of capital flows and exchange rate stability, it could potentially dampen the positive outlook for growth and financial stability as this would constitute a risk in productive sectors of the economy.”
“Loosening would strengthen the outlook for growth by stimulating domestic aggregate demand through reduced cost of borrowing, it could aggravate upward trend in consumer prices and generate exchange rate pressures.
“The committee also felt that loosening would worsen the current account balance of the country through increased importation.”
He concluded by stating that the key variables that have been evolving with current policies should be allowed to fully manifest.