The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) voted to reduce the Monetary Policy Rate by 100 basis points, from 12.5 percent to 11.5 percent.ยน Other decisions taken by the MPC includes the retention of Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) at 27.5 percent and retaining the liquidity ratio at 30 percent. These decisions were made in support of driving price stability and output growth. The MPC aims to use these policies to help reduce cost of capital in order for businesses to be able to afford loans. While the reduction in the MPR is expected to reflect in the interest rate of commercial banks, the banking sector may not be well-positioned to provide affordable loans. Considering that loans and advances to the oil sector accounts for about 30 percent of the risk assets in the banking industry, the disruption in the oil sector is likely to affect the ability of these companies to service their loans. Furthermore, banks are already being encouraged to offer debt moratorium by restructuring existing loans combined with the already high cash reserve ratio, making it difficult for them to make loans available. As such, revisions to CRR should be considered at the next MPC meeting.
October 27, 2020
Nigeria Economic Update (Issue 39)
Related
Nigeria Economic Update (Issue 49)
Nigerias
Petroleum Products Imports statistics show a gradual reduction in the volume
and value of petroleum imports (PMS, AGO, HHK) between May and September 2016. Specifically,
volume of imports declined by 34.1 percent for PMS, 37.6 percent for AGO, and
60.3 percent for HHK in the period.The significant decline in
imports in the reporting periods may be as a result of persistent forex
scarcity issues faced by importers. On account of stagnation in
domestic production of refined petroleum products, continuous
decline in oil imports may create a demand gap with upward pressure on gasoline
prices in the economy.