FINALLY, MPC EMBRACES FLEXIBILITY IN FOREIGN EXCHANGE MARKET

The Central Bank of Nigeria’s Monetary Policy Committee has expressed readiness to devalue the naira after a prolonged resistance.

At the end of its 250th meeting yesterday in Abuja, the MPC decided that it would embrace flexibility in foreign exchange but it did not announce any band.

CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele told journalists that an announcement would be made as soon as a band is agreed upon.

Before now, the MPC had vehemently resisted calls for the devaluation of the naira following the depreciation of the currency which is currently trading at N340 to the dollar in the parallel market as against the official rate of N197.

The MPC decision is coming at a time when there is wide spread concern that the country might slip into recession in the next quarters.

Recent data released by the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics showed Nigeria’s GDP contracted by -0.36 percent in the first quarter of this year.

Meanwhile, the MPC left monetary rates unchanged at 12 percent. Cash Reserve Ratio, CRR, is at 22.5 while Liquidity ratio is at 30 percent.

Share this

Anonymous