Africa Press-Nigeria:<\/p>\n
* Nigeria has Africa\u2019s largest economy<\/p>\n
* Tuesday\u2019s rate cut follows 100 bps cut in May<\/p>\n
* Rate cut surprised analysts<\/p>\n
* Six committee members backed 100 bps cut (Adds details, quotes, bullets)<\/p>\n
LAGOS, Sept 22 (Reuters) – Nigeria\u2019s central bank cut its benchmark lending rate on Tuesday by 100 basis points to 11.5% in a surprise move aimed at stimulating growth in Africa\u2019s largest economy.<\/p>\n
Nigeria\u2019s economy, badly hit by the coronavirus pandemic, contracted 6.1% in the second quarter and now faces possible recession in the third quarter, with the government expecting the economy to contract by as much as 8.9% this year.<\/p>\n
Low oil prices have also taken their toll on the continent\u2019s top producer, which relies on crude sales for 90% of foreign exchange earnings.<\/p>\n
Central bank governor Godwin Emefiele said six of the 10 members of the monetary policy committee voted for the cut, one for a 50-point reduction and three for holding the rate.<\/p>\n
Loosening monetary policy \u201cwould complement the bank\u2019s commitment to sustaining the trajectory of the economic recovery and reduce the negative impact of COVID-19\u201d, he told a news conference.<\/p>\n
Emefiele said the cut aimed to force banks to lend to help the economy despite rising inflation.<\/p>\n
He said inflation was mainly due to supply side constraints, adding that cheaper credit to the domestic economy would stimulate growth.<\/p>\n
RISING INFLATION
\nThe central bank has said it aims to maintain inflation within a target range of 6% to 9%. But annual inflation rose in August for the 12th successive month to a more-than two-year high of 13.22% as the pandemic disrupted the supply of goods and services.<\/p>\n
In May, the bank cut the rate by 100 basis points to 12.5% — the first reduction since March 2019 and the largest since 2015. The bank\u2019s monetary policy committee voted to hold the rate at its last meeting in July.<\/p>\n
Tuesday\u2019s rate cut came as a surprise to many analysts.<\/p>\n
\u201cGiven Nigeria\u2019s budgetary pressures, creating an environment that is more conducive to local financing of the deficit is understandable,\u201d said Razia Khan, chief economist for Africa at Standard Chartered bank. \u201cThere will be no immediate inflation relief, however well-intentioned the policy.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Africa Press-Nigeria: * Nigeria has Africa\u2019s largest economy * Tuesday\u2019s rate cut follows 100 bps cut in May * Rate cut surprised analysts * Six committee members backed 100 bps cut (Adds details, quotes, bullets) LAGOS, Sept 22 (Reuters) – Nigeria\u2019s central bank cut its benchmark lending rate on Tuesday by 100 basis points to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":30239,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,15],"tags":[653],"class_list":["post-30238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-economy","tag-emefiele"],"yoast_head":"\n