Nigeria’s senate sets stage for CBN’s interest rates meeting
Nigeria's Senate has
confirmed the appointment of 12 new members of the central bank's Monetary
Policy Committee (MPC) earlier today, setting the stage for the bank to hold an
interest rate meeting next week, the first since July.
Central bank
governor Olayemi Cardoso, who was appointed in September, faces pressure to
raise interest rates when the MPC meets on February 26 and 27.
Inflation in
Africa's largest economy hit almost 30 per cent in January, the highest in
about three decades, worsening a cost-of-living crisis amid a crippling dollar
shortage that has pushed the currency to record lows in recent weeks.
President of
Nigeria's Senate Godswill Akpabio said of the committee, "we hope that
they will use their expertise to improve the monetary policy and even the
fiscal policy to get the country out of this economic quagmire."
In November,
Cardoso said the central bank will tighten policy in the first two
quarters of 2024 to curb rising inflation.
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