CBN MPC Maintains interest rate at 13.5% as Stakeholders Call For Sustained Border Closure

The monetary committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced its decision to maintain the monetary policy rate (MPR), which measures interest rate at 13.5%.

The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele revealed this while addressing journalists on Tuesday, November 26, 2019 at Abuja, Nigeria after the two-day Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting, adding that the upward movement in inflation was expected.

Emefiele who said the cash reserve ratio (CRR) will be 200 -500 basis point, noted that the decision was made to protect prices.

Also at the MPC meeting, Emefiele alongside stakeholders in the rice, poultry, steel and automobile sectors advised the Federal Government of Nigeria to sustain the border closure, so as to ensure that opportunities are created to boost employment, grow output and keep the industries alive.

The industry players which include farmers, processors, and aggregators of all kinds of commodities agreed that the sustained border closure has led to employment creation as well as awakening of industries which were hitherto dead, due to smuggling activities through the country’s porous borders.

Recall that in August 2019, the Nigerian government closed its border to tackle illicit trade and to strengthen security in the country.