Business
Emefiele says CBN’s MPC may further raise interest rate in coming months
The governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele has said that the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the bank will further raise the interest rate in months to come.
Emefiele said the increase in interest rate was to rein the inflation rate which hit 22.22 per cent in April 2023.
He stated this on Wednesday after the MPC meeting held at the CBN Headquarters in Abuja.
When asked if the CBN will continue to raise the MPR as long as the inflation trend goes up further, Emefiele said: “I have said so. I am not going to give anybody any assurance that we are not going to do what we are doing, because we are seeing the result of what we are doing.
“We have also seen the impact of MPR hikes on the headline inflation,” he added.
The CBN chief went ahead to state that the rate was having an expected impact on credit, even though the MPC was not excited that credit was dropping, but it was necessary to reduce inflation.
READ ALSO:Emefiele says USSD users will suffer consequences of N120bn bank and telco dispute
“Around May 2022, credit was about N1.4 trillion, but as we speak today, credit is about N600 billion. When you raise rate, you are trying to constrain credit.
“We are seeing it happen. And I must confess here that we are not happy that the hike in rate is constraining credit, but we have to do our work because inflation is at the heart of what we are saying we want to deal with.
“Because if you don’t raise rate to constrain credit, what that would mean is that it would create more inflationary pressure and create more problems for us,” Emefiele explained
While Emefiele said he can’t promise that the CBN won’t raise the rate again if inflation continues its upward trend, the apex bank chief disclosed that the response of the financial regulator will not be aggressive.
Join the conversation
Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism
Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.
As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.
If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.
Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.
INVESTIGATION: In Kwara, multimillion-naira milk processing plant is abandoned, converted to a chicken outlet
After the government spent millions of naira to establish a milk processing plant in Kwara State that would provided jobs...
SPECIAL REPORT: For Sokoto communities, promise of healthcare is akin to death sentence
In this story, ABDULRASHEED HAMMAD delves into the dire realities of Primary Health Care services in Sokoto State, shedding light...
ICYMI…SPECIAL REPORT: NNPCL hides behind PIA to frustrate disclosure, accountability
Nigeria’s major oil company, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), in what appears to be a common practice of disregard...
INVESTIGATION: Multi-million naira Ekiti resort center remains uncompleted a decade after
The multimillion-naira project, expected to comprise recreational buildings, now consists of cassava farmland, a bush used for excretion, and a...
SPECIAL REPORT: Torturous experiences of students with disabilities in Oyo tertiary institutions
For students with disabilities in Oyo state-owned tertiary institutions, learning is a torturous and distressing experience, considering the building structures...