The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the country’s apex bank, on 25th and 26th January convened its first statutory meeting for the year 2021 in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
It was on the backdrop of dampened optimism for improvement in global output recovery, associated with the resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic and mild success with vaccinations across several countries.
However, “on the domestic front, recovery is expected to progress reasonably, following the mild contraction recorded during the third quarter of 2020 and with fourth quarter output growth figures expected to show further improvement”, said the CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin I. Emefiele.
Among the issues raised was improving liquidity in the forex market.
The committee also noted that “the banking system remains stable, strong and resilient”.
In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, the MPC observed the large stimulus package provided by various countries to fast-track growth recovery and restore livelihoods across the world and, therefore, urged the Bank to further expand its current stimulus packages to support the fiscal interventions to reflate and boost economic recovery.
Ten (10) members of the committee were in attendance.
277Th MPC Press Briefing https://t.co/jtrvQbKBJG
— Central Bank of Nigeria (@cenbank) January 26, 2021
At the end of the meeting, the #CBN #MPC voted unanimously to retain Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) at 11.5%.
#CBN #MPC retains Cash Reserve Ratio at 27.50 percent.
#CBN #MPC retains Liquidity Ratio at 30 percent.
#CBN #MPC maintains Asymmetric Window of +100 and -700 basis points around MPR. #CBNMPC
Amaka E. Nliam
