By Zeynab Akolade
Culled from ThisDay live
In a strong bid to tame inflation, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Tuesday raised the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), otherwise known as interest rate, by 200 basis points to 14% from 12%. It also assured Nigerians of the stability of the banking sector, saying whilst it was poised to deal ruthlessly with any misdemeanor and malpractice, the recent removal of some banks chiefs was not a sign of distress.
The apex bank spoke at the end of its two-day Monetary Policy Committee meeting in Abuja, indicating that while it moved up the interest rate, it left Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) and Liquidity Ratio (LR) unchanged at 22.50 per cent and 30 per cent respectively as well as retained the Asymmetric Window at +200 and -500 basis points around the MPR. The MPR is the rate at which the apex bank lend to commercial banks and usually determines the cost of funds in the banking system.
Addressing journalists at the end of the meeting, the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, said five members voted to raise the MPR while three others voted to retain the rate at 12 percent. The hike in interest rate came on the day the Naira hit N310.07 to the US Dollar even as the World Bank raised some hope of a brighter year, raising its oil price forecast for 2016 to $43 per barrel.
The governor, who admitted the difficulty among members in arriving at a decision over the MPR said it eventually settled for a hike given that the apex bank “lacked the instruments required to directly jumpstart growth, and being mindful not to calibrate its instruments in such a manner as to undermine its primary mandate and financial system stability, in assessment of the relevant issues.”
He added that currently the balance of risks remained tilted against price stability. Emefiele further explained that the committee had considered the high inflationary trend which has culminated into negative real interest rates in the economy, a condition which according to him discouraged savings. He added that the negative real interest rates did not support the recent flexible foreign exchange market as foreign investors attitude had remained lukewarm, showing unwillingness in bringing in new capital under the circumstances.
Notwithstanding the hike in MPR, the CBN Governor said the bank would continue to make targeted interventions in agriculture, mineral resources and new manufacturing, adding that it was committed to boost the economy through the Anchor-Borrower programme which has recorded significant success in local rice and wheat production.
The governor noted that the weak macroeconomic environment, as reflected particularly in increasing inflationary pressure and contraction in real output growth underscored the need for coordinated action, anchored by fiscal policy, to initiate recovery at the earliest time.
The CBN also re-echoed concerns that the economy was still saddled with the effects of the shocks of the first quarter of the year which led to a contraction in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) largely due to energy shortages, high electricity tariffs, price hikes, scarcity of foreign exchange and depressed consumer demand.
He said although some of the factors which aided contraction of the economy in the previous quarter had reduced, the economy is unlikely to rebound strongly in the second quarter as a result of increasing vandalising of oil installations and setbacks in the energy sector, coupled with the rather slow implementation of the 2016 budget, which was passed late.
That could effectively result in a consecutive negative growth that would usher the country into a recession.
He said: “Whereas the influence and persistence of some of the factors waned in the second quarter, it is unlikely that the economy rebounded strongly in the quarter as setbacks in the energy sector continued owing mainly to vandalism of oil installations. In addition, the implementation of the 2016 budget in the second quarter remained slower than expected in the second quarter.
He, pointed out however, that most of the conditions undermining domestic output growth were outside the direct purview of monetary policy.
He said if the monetary policy initiatives recently carried out by the bank had been complemented with appropriate fiscal component early enough, the economy could have witnessed substantial recovery.
The committee further urged the Federal Government to fast-track the implementation of the 2016 budget in order to stimulate economic activity to bridge the output gap and create employment. The committee also expressed concern over non-payment of salaries in some states and urged express action to help stimulate aggregate demand which had been down.
Nevertheless, Emefiele said the apex bank would continue to take measures and deploy relevant instruments within its control to complement fiscal policy with a view to restarting growth. Also, for the umpteenth time, the CBN Governor dispelled fears in some quarters that the banking sector may be fragile following the CBN’s recent intervention and removal of the board of Skye Bank over lax corporate governance issues.
He said the CBN’s intervention as a result of a misdemeanor of a particular board does not suggest that the bank showed any sign of collapse. He, therefore reassured the public that no depositors in the banking system would lose their money.
Fielding questions from journalists, Emefiele said the recently introduced flexible exchange policy, though saddled with few teething challenges, has had “excellent outcome” so far and further hoped the positive trend would be sustained. He said there had been evidence of forex inflows into the economy as a direct result of the new forex regulations. He said till date, “nobody has faulted the guideline” partly because stakeholders’ input was all-inclusive. He also said it was true the banks were yet to sell forex to BDCs as contained in a recent directive.
According to him, it would take a few more days to sell to BDCs as efforts are ongoing to hold engagement meetings with stakeholders. He, however, assured that the resumed sale of forex to BDCs would see rates crash drastically.
Meanwhile, the MPC enjoined commercial banks to support government efforts by redirecting credit from low employment generating sectors to those capable of supporting growth, reducing unemployment and improving citizens’ standards of living.
Members further agreed that the economy was passing through a difficult phase, dealing with critical supply gaps which underscored the imperative of carefully navigating the policy space in order to engender growth and ensure price stability.
According to Emefiele, who read the committee’s communique, “The MPC therefore, summarized the two policy options it was confronted with as restarting growth or fighting inflation. The MPC was particularly concerned that headline inflation spiked significantly in June 2016, approaching twice the size of the upper limit of the policy reference band. The Committee noted that inflation had risen significantly, eroding real purchasing power of fixed income earners and dragging growth.
“The MPC was further concerned that while the situation called for obvious tightening of the monetary policy stance, the technical recession confronting the economy and the prospects of negative growth to year-end needed to be factored into the policy parameters.
“The arguments in favour of growth were anchored on the premise that the current inflationary episode was largely structural. In particular, members noted the prominent role of cost factors arising from reform of the energy sector, leading to higher domestic fuel prices and electricity tariffs and prolonged foreign exchange shortages arising from falling oil prices leading to higher inputs costs, domestic fuel shortages, increased transportation costs, security challenges, reform of the foreign exchange market reflected in high exchange rate pass-through to domestic prices of imports.”
Continuing, he said: “Consequently, the current episode of inflation, being largely non-monetary but largely structural, tightening at this point would only serve to worsen prospects for growth recovery as the Bank had in June 2016, withdrawn substantial domestic liquidity through the foreign exchange market upon introduction of the flexible foreign exchange regime. Members however, noted the negative effect of inflation on consumption and investment decisions and its defining impact on the efficiency of resource allocation and investment.”
He said: “The MPC further noted the prolonged non-payment of salaries, a development which has affected aggregate demand and worsened growth prospects. It also noted that at the May MPC meeting, members weighed the risks of the balance of probabilities against growth and voted to hold, allowing fiscal policy some space to stimulate output with injections, but this has been long in coming.
“Members further noted that there existed a substantial amount of international capital in negative yielding investments globally and Nigeria stood a chance of attracting such investments with sound macroeconomic policies. Consequently, members were of the view that an upward adjustment in interest rates would strongly signal not only the Bank’s commitment to price stability but also its desire to gradually achieve positive real interest rates.
“Such a decision, it was argued, gives impetus for improving the liquidity of the foreign exchange market and the urgent need to deepen the market to ensure self-sustainability. Members were of the opinion that this would boost manufacturing and industrial output, thereby stimulating growth which is desired at this time.”
The Committee’s Decisions
The Committee, recognizing that the Bank lacked the instruments required to directly jumpstart growth, and being mindful not to calibrate its instruments in such a manner as to undermine its primary mandate and financial system stability, in assessment of the relevant issues, was of the view that the balance of risks remains tilted against price stability. Consequently, five (5) members voted to raise the Monetary Policy Rate while three (3) voted to hold.
In summary, the MPC voted to:
(i) Increase the MPR by 200 basis points from 12.00 to 14 per cent;
(ii) Retain the CRR at 22.50 per cent;
(iii) Retain the Liquidity Ratio at 30.00 per cent; and
(iv) Retain the Asymmetric Window at +200 and -500 basis points around the MPR
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