CBN: Nigerians are not opposed to higher interest rates

The Inflation Attitude Report released by the Central Bank of Nigeria on Monday says Nigerians prefer higher interest rates to higher inflation.

The report, which was made available on the apex bank’s website, also showed that Nigerians prefer lower interest rates if the conditions were right.

The monetary policy committee of the bank has held rates at 14% since 2016 to keep inflation in check.

“Respondents were asked to choose between raising interest rates in order to keep inflation down, and keeping interest rates down to allow prices to rise,” the report read.

“Responding, 26.3% preferred interest rates to rise in order to keep inflation down compared to 28.0% who said they would prefer prices to rise faster, while 45.6% had no idea.

“These responses suggest that given a trade-off, more of the respondents would prefer higher interest rates to higher inflation which is suggestive of the respondent households’ support for the bank’s price stability objective.

“Similarly, the respondents were asked whether it would be best for the Nigerian economy for interest rates to rise or fall. The results showed that 37.2% indicated that it would be best for the Nigerian economy if interest rates fell, while 12.8% opted for higher interest rates.

“The results further revealed that 13.2% thought that it would make no difference, while 35.0 had no idea. These responses revealed that most of the respondents favored lower interest rates for the Nigerian economy.”