MPR reduction will increase lending by banks – expert

By Aliyu DANLADI

Prof. Evans Osabouhien, a Senior Economist at Covenant University, Sango-Ota, Ogun, on Wednesday said that the reduction of the benchmark lending rate would enable more customers to borrow from banks.

TBI Africa said Osabouhien told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Lagos that the reduction was a welcomed development.

CBN rose from its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting on Tuesday reducing the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) from 14 per cent to 13.5 per cent while maintaining other monetary policy rates.

The apex bank had held the MPR unchanged for two years.

The CBN retained the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) at 22.5 per cent, liquidity ratio at 30 per cent and Asymmetric corridor at +200 and -500 basis points around the MPR.

“The committee felt that given the relative stability in the key macroeconomic variables, there is a need to signal a new direction and in which case we are talking about being pro-growth.

“In its argument, the committee was convinced that doing this would further uphold the bank’s commitment to promoting strong growth by way of encouraging credit flow to the productive sector of the economy,”’ the CBN said.