Nigeria: CBN retains lending rate
The Central Bank of Nigeria has retained its benchmark lending rate at 11.5 per cent.
The governor of the bank, Godwin Emefiele, announced this Tuesday after a meeting of the monetary policy committee of the bank.
The Nigerian economy fell, in the third quarter of 2020, into its second recession in four years, amidst the COVID-19 lockdowns and fall in crude oil prices.
The central bank has aimed to keep inflation between six and nine per cent and managed the naira which has lost significantly against be dollar in the last year.
On Monday, the currency exchanged for 475 at the parallel market, against the 383 central bank’s official rate. Inflation hit 15.75 per cent in December 2020, the highest in three years, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
In May and September 2020, the bank cut the policy rate, which is the benchmark for all interest rates in the country, both by 100 basis points.
