The Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, on Monday said the economy would benefit from interest rate easing.
The minister, however, said it was likely the Central Bank of Nigeria would keep the key indicator unchanged.
Bloomberg quoted her as saying on a conference call to Standard Chartered Plc in Abuja, “We would be very grateful if we saw an easing of the interest rate a little bit in order to also help more economic activities. Knowing the CBN governor, and perhaps the tone and trend of the Monetary Policy Committee, I am sure that they may end up maintaining the tight monetary stance.”
The MPC, led by the CBN Governor, Mr. Lamido Sanusi, will hold the policy rate at a record high 12 per cent for a tenth consecutive meeting, according to all 11 economists surveyed by Bloomberg.
The Excess Crude Account, where the country saves revenue above the benchmark oil price set in the budget, is now down to about $5bn, Okonjo-Iweala told reporters after the call.
The account had $9.2bn in January. The country will probably continue to draw from the account in the next two or three months to finance a shortfall in oil production, she said.
“We do have a quantity shock at the same time that oil prices have started to decline,” she said.
As calls for the reduction of the benchmark lending rate deepens, some analysts have said the MPC may leave the rate unchanged on Tuesday.
A report by Meristem Securities made available to our correspondent stated that while the growth argument might support a reduction, the over-riding objective of price stability suggested otherwise.