…Says economy remains strong

Uche Usim, Abuja

As tongues wag over the deferment of the Monetary Policy Committee meeting earlier slated for January 22-23, the Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele, has allayed fears ,saying the inability to hold the meeting is due to the non-confirmation of the MPC nominees by the the Senate.  

Emefiele explained in a statement that the MPC meeting would not be holding in January 2018 as a result of the bank’s inability to form a quorum as stipulated in the CBN Act.

In spite of the statutory meeting not holding in January, the CBN Governor noted that key economic indicators continued to move in the right direction.

Consequently, he said the CBN would continue to maintain the key monetary variables as decided in the last MPC meeting of November 2017, which was to hold Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) at 14 per cent, CRR at 22.5 per cent, Liquidity Ratio at 30 per cent and the Asymmetric corridor at +200 and -500 basis points around the MPR.

He cited the recovery in oil prices and boost in domestic production, Nigeria’s exit from recession in 2017, decline in inflation rate to 15.37 percent, and accretion to the country’s Foreign Exchange Reserves, which now stands at $40.78 billion, as positive indicators, stressing that these underscore the fact that the Nigerian economy remains strong.

Related News

Furthermore, he noted that strong investor confidence in Nigeria had attracted inflows of about $13 billion through the Investors’ and Exporters’ (I&E) window, opened by the CBN in 2017. According to him, these inflows have boosted FX supply and helped to stabilize the exchange rate.

“We have also seen Market Capitalisation of our Stock Exchange improve by 22.3 per cent from N13.21 trillion on November 30, 2017 to N16.15 trillion as at 19 January 2018, while the All-Share Index (ASI) rose by 18.8 per cent from 37,944.60 to 45,092.83 over the same period,” he added.

Emefiele gave assurance that a revised schedule of the MPC meetings would be communicated as soon as the bank meets the statutory requirements of membership and quorum for the MPC.

He also promised that the management of the apex bank would continue to sustain the gains recorded in the economy as well as its vigilance and proactivity to ensure overall macro-economic stability throughout 2018. 

Recall that the President, Muhammadu Buhari last October nominated Mrs. Aisha Ahmad as Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria. He also sought the confirmation of Adeola Festus Adenikinju, Aliyu Rafindadi Sanusi, Robert Chikwendu Asogwa, and Asheikh Maidugu as members of the CBN’s Monetary Policy Committee.

However, none of the nominees has been confirmed by the Senate, thereby preventing the committee from forming a quorum. The Second Schedule of the CBN Act (Section 12(5) and 54, stipulates that the MPC shall meet at least four times in a year and that the quorum shall be six members, two of whom shall be the Governor and a Deputy Governor or two Deputy Governors.