By Etuka Sunday
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele has hinted why the members of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the apex bank voted yesterday to retain interest rate at 11.5 percent.
Mr. Emefiele gave the hint why briefing newsmen shortly after the committee’s meeting at the CBN’s Headquarters in Abuja.
He said, the members unanimously voted to: I. Retain the MPR at 11.5 per cent; II. Retain the asymmetric corridor of +100/-700 basis points around the MPR; III. Retain the CRR at 27.5 per cent; and IV. Retain the Liquidity Ratio at 30 per cent.
The CBN’s Head said, MPC was confronted with a policy dilemma as to whether to aggressively combat the inflationary pressure or support measures currently aimed at stimulating growth and reversing the recession.
He said, although the economy was currently in a stagflation environment with simultaneous occurrence of inflationary pressures and contracting output, the MPC resolved to reverse both developments and continue pursuing price stability in growing the economy.
Emefiele noted that the MPC was of the view, that whereas there may be wisdom in loosening, given that the impact of the global Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in constrained activities, disruption to supply chain and suppress aggregate demand, an accommodative stance may be required to stimulate credit expansion and boost recovery in the short term.
He said, the Committee was also of the view that an expansionary policy would enable the monetary authorities convince the financial institutions to reduce loan pricing and defer interest and principal repayments to critically affected obligors in a sustainable manner.
On the flip side, he said, the MPC also opined that an aggressive expansionary stance may worsen both inflation and the negative real interest rate, thereby resulting in negative consequences on exchange rate. With regard to tightening, MPC concluded that this may run contrary to its objectives of providing affordable credit to households, MSMEs, Agriculture, and other output growth and employment stimulating sectors of the economy.
He said, “the MPC was therefore of the view that it should pursue its current stance of systematic synchronization of monetary and fiscal policy accommodation through its developmental finance initiatives, aimed at mitigating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Nigerians.
“While expressing understanding of the public health dilemma of the recent spike in infections, MPC encouraged Government not to consider a wholesome lockdown of the economy so as not to reverse the current gains of the stimulus earlier provided in 2020.
“It also encouraged the Central Bank of Nigeria Management to intensify its efforts in the targeted credit facility to household, SMEs, the Health Sector, as well as Agric and manufacturing sectors which would not only boost consumer spending but result in manufacturing output thereby positively impacting the GDP.
Speaking on some of the committee’s consideration, Emefiele said, “the Committee noted the moderation in output contraction in the third quarter of 2020, associated with news of the discovery of COVID-19 vaccines and rising oil prices. The outlook for the recovery, however, appears to be dampened by the second wave of the pandemic considering its intensity.
“In the Committee’s consideration, it noted that the COVID-19 pandemic and the necessary measures put in place by the Government to forestall its public health impact, such as the lockdown and other associated restrictions, contributed to the Nigerian economy going into recession, much like almost every other country in the world.
“Members thus agreed that the Committee’s current priority remains to quicken the pace of the recovery through sustained and targeted spending by the fiscal authority supported by the Bank’s interventions,” he said.
“In this light, it was thought necessary to increase collaboration with the fiscal authority by providing complementary spending to finance productive ventures in a bid to improve aggregate supply and reduce prices. This is in addition to effectively collaborating with the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 through the existing private sector Coalition against COVID-19 (CACOVID) to procure and distribute vaccines to fast-track the pick-up of business activities and economic recovery.”
Members reiterated the adverse impact of insecurity on food production, stressing that the current uptick in inflationary pressure could not be solely associated to monetary factors, but due mainly to legacy structural factors across the economy, including major supply bottlenecks across the country. The Committee, thus called on the Government to redouble efforts at strengthening infrastructural efficiency and address the emerging security challenges in the country.
In addition to this, the Committee called on the Government to explore the option of effective partnership with the private sector to improve funding sources necessary to address the huge infrastructural financing deficit.
The Committee expressed concern over the rising public debt stock, as recurrent expenditure remained relatively high, compared with capital expenditure, thus, signalling future debt servicing challenges.
To improve Government revenue sources and investment in capital, the Committee called on the Government to take advantage of the take-off of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which could boost domestic production and generate sizeable revenues for Government, as well as improve domestic productivity and competitiveness.
The Committee commended the Bank’s effort of improving liquidity in the foreign exchange market, but noted the need to continue to explore avenues to improve inflow from sources such as the International Money
Transfer Operators (IMTO), diaspora remittances and non-oil export promotion, given the current trajectory of crude oil prices. These sources, in the view of the Committee, would boost foreign exchange supply and ease the current exchange rate pressure.
The Committee noted the continued improvement in the equities market as a lead indicator of medium-term macroeconomic recovery, thus, urging the Bank to maintain its collaboration with the fiscal authority to improve the investment climate towards attracting sustainable Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).
The Committee commended the Bank for maintaining a sound regulatory surveillance over the banking system by ensuring a reasonably low level of non-performing loans (NPLs), even with the aggressive credit expansion programme during this crisis period. Though, NPLs remained slightly above the prudential benchmark, members noted that the banking system remained stable, strong and resilient. Given the success recorded under the LDR policy, it thus urged the Bank to sustain its risk surveillance approach and ensure the continued soundness of the banking system.
In the Committee’s consideration, it noted the broad-based global stimulus packages, including expanded credit lines, asset purchase programme, corporate bond purchase, additional funding facilities for financial system, commercial paper purchases, special central bank lending, increase in the Ways and Means limits introduced by the central banks of different countries to support economic recovery in their various economies and to prevent further distortions to the economy caused by the devastating impact of the pandemic.
The Committee noted the large stimulus packages deployed by many countries to fast-track growth recovery and restore livelihoods across the world. For instance, Japan provided stimulus package valued at 66.9 per cent of its 2019 GDP; UK, 45.04 per cent; USA, 28.4 per cent; Brazil, 27.6 per cent; South Africa, 12.6 per cent; China, 11.5 per cent; India, 10.0 per cent; and Russia 7.1 per cent compared with Nigeria’s paltry 4.0%.
The MPC, therefore, urged the Bank to further expand its current stimulus packages to support the fiscal interventions to reflate and boost recovery in the economy.
Etuka Sunday
Business Editor
Peoples Daily Newspaper
Abuja.
08066605655, 07011450553
