‘We won’t make life difficult for Nigerians’ — CBN keeps MPR at 11.5%

The monetary policy committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has voted to retain the monetary policy rate at 11.5 percent.

Godwin Emefiele, the CBN governor, announced the committee’s decision on Tuesday at the end of a two-day meeting at the CBN headquarters.

The committee also retained the liquidity ratio at 30 percent and cash reserve ratio (CRR) at 27.5 percent.

According to Emefiele, six members voted to maintain all parameters while three voted to increase the MPR.

The monetary policy rate (MPR) is the baseline interest rate in an economy, every other interest rate used within an economy is built on the MPR.

The CBN governor said the bank is not looking to make life difficult for Nigerians and businesses operating in Nigeria by increasing the key interest rate.

He explained that increasing the MPR will increase the cost of borrowing and reduce access to credit for businesses which he said might reverse the growth trend of the economy.