Analysts Hail Decision To Retain MPR At 12%

Two economic analysts
have hailed the continued retention of the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR)at 12 percent, saying that measure had brought some stability to the Nigerian economy.
The analysts who spoke to Journalists in Abuja posited that the Monetary Policy Committee after its bimonthly meeting on Friday, retained the MPR at 12 percent and the Cash Reserve Requirement of Public Sector fund at 75 percent and that of Private sector at 15 percent.
Mr. Eze Onyekpere, one of the economic analysts, said that retaining the rate at 12 percent over a long period had set a standard for the incoming Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor.
He said “I’m saying that the retention of the 12 percent for now is okay and it will be good for the incoming governor to study what is on ground and carry every member of the Committee along too. What we see now is a level of stability in the system and that is okey”.
Also in his submission, Mr. Okechukwu Unegbu, formerly of the defund citizens Bank, said the decision of the committee was the best option for the economy at present, stressing that thr ate has been stable over time.
“Lowering it is a waste, but hiking it may destroy the economy more. So, instead of lowering, they decided to maintain it. But vis-à-vis, the incoming governor, he is not going to change the thing overnight, he has to look at the environment and settle down to some of these issues”, he said.
Unegbu posited that the idea of devaluing the naira should not be considered at any point as such a move would be a disaster for the economy.
He said the focus must be on consolidating on the stability witnessed in the system and maintain the existing rate, pointing out that the Nigerian economy had witnessed a lot of dislocations such as in security, bad ratings at some points with some International rating agencies.
Unegbu said “All these compound and determine how the economy goes, so, I think the rate at is good and healthy for the economy now”.