Emefiele said the committee’s decisions were informed by the need to tread cautiously so as not to reverse recent economic gains, especially the exit from recession.
The monetary policy committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria has voted to retain the monetary policy rate at 11.5 per cent.
The CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, announced the committee’s decision on Tuesday at the end of a two-day meeting at the CBN headquarters.
He also said the committee agreed to hold all other parameters constant. The committee had retained the liquidity ratio at 30 per cent and the cash reserve ratio at 27.5 per cent.
In March, the News Agency of Nigeria had reported the same stance by the Monetary Policy Committee.
Emefiele said the committee’s decisions were informed by the need to tread cautiously so as not to reverse recent economic gains, especially the exit from recession.
He said three members of the committee voted to increase the MPR by 60, 75 and 50 basis points, respectively, while six members voted to hold all parameters unchanged.
“The committee decided by a vote of three members to increase MPR by 60, 75 and 50 basis points, respectively, while six members voted to hold all parameters constant.
“The dilemma that confronted the committee relates to whether to continue to focus on efforts to stimulate output growth.
“It was also to decide whether to focus on reigning in inflation, which at 17.5 per cent, is almost attaining the January 2017 inflation level of 18.72 per cent,’’ Emefiele said.
He said given that the recent exit from the economic recession is fragile, any decision to drastically rein in inflation could result in another recession.
He said the MPC decided to focus on consolidation of the economic recovery process by taking actions that would continue to stimulate output growth and create employment.