The Central Bank of Nigeria has retained its benchmark lending rate at 11.5 per cent.
The governor of the apex Bank, Mr Godwin Emefiele, announced this Tuesday after a meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the bank.
Emefiele said the decision to retain the benchmark rate at the first MPC for the year was “unanimous”, as the bank also held other monetary policy parameters.
The Bank left the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) for commercial banks at 27.50 per cent and liquidity ratio at 30 per cent, while the lending rate has a flexibility margin of between +100 and -700 basis points.
According to Mr. Emefiele, economic recovery is expected to progress considerably following the contraction.
The regulator encouraged the federal government to avoid a fresh round of lockdown amidst a second wave of COVID-19, to consolidate on economic gains achieved so far.
It also encouraged commercial banks to “aggressively” intensify their efforts in providing credit facilities to Small and Medium Enterprises, Health, Agriculture and Manufacturing sectors, so as to not only boost consumer spending but raise manufacturing output and positively impact on the GDP.
