The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is to limit Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) access to government securities to redirect their lending focus to the private sector.
CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, said yesterday in Abuja that the intention was to stimulate growth in the economy.
The CBN unfolded its new policy direction on banks’ access to investing in treasury bills and bonds just as the apex bank further resolved to hold all parameters of monetary policy constant by retaining the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), otherwise known as interest rate, at 13.5 per cent.
The MPR is the rate at which the CBN lends to commercial banks and often determines the cost of borrowing in the economy.
It also retained the asymmetric corridor of +200/-500 basis points around the MPR; left both the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) at 22.5 per cent and Liquidity Ratio at 30 per cent.
Emefiele, who read the committee’s communiqué at the end of the two-day Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting in Abuja, said in arriving at the decision to hold all rates at current levels, nine members out of 11, voted to hold all parameters of monetary policy constant. Two members voted, however, to reduce the MPR by 25 basis points.
He said: "As in the past, the committee considered the options of whether to be more accommodative, tighten or hold its position. The committee felt that although the slight inflation uptick should result in tightening, it felt that doing this will limit the ability of DMBs to increase credit at this time, given the need to support or redirect the focus of DMBs to new credit in support of consumer, mortgage and other priority sectors of the economy, including, SMEs, agriculture and manufacturing.
"It also felt that given the fragile state of the economy, increasing the cost of credit would further diminish investment flow and impact negatively on output growth.
"As regards loosening, some members felt that it was desirable to aggressively stimulate growth, restart the capital market activities and increase lending at lower rates; which would ultimately stimulate domestic aggregate demand.
"Those against loosening felt that given that there was a marginal increase in headline inflation for April 2019, there is need to restrain from loosening in order not to exacerbate inflationary pressures.
"They also felt the economy would experience liquidity surfeit and without corresponding increase in real sector output, inflationary pressures could be elevated; resulting in likely exchange rate pressures."As for members […]
