Nigeria MPC Meeting Delayed by Up to 10 Days, Emefiele Says

Nigeria MPC Meeting Delayed by Up to 10 Days, Emefiele Says

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria’s Monetary Policy Committee meeting will be delayed by between a week and 10 days, central bank Governor Godwin Emefiele said. The postponement is to allow the Senate time to screen and approve nominees to the MPC, Emefiele said in an interview broadcast on CNBC Africa on Thursday. The meeting will take place “by latest, the first week of April,” he said. Senate lawmakers on March 13 finally agreed to start…

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Nigeria’s Sticky Inflation Threatens to Curb Rate-Cut Hopes

Nigeria’s Sticky Inflation Threatens to Curb Rate-Cut Hopes

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria’s long-awaited interest rate-cutting cycle risks being short-lived, if it starts at all. Governor Godwin Emefiele said last month the Central Bank of Nigeria may reduce its benchmark from a record-high 14 percent before July if inflation drops closer to single digits. But with fuel costs surging and government spending swelling before next year’s election, he may struggle to reach that threshold at a time when the pace of price growth is still…

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Nigeria Holds Key Rate at 14% as It Seeks Currency Stability

Nigeria Holds Key Rate at 14% as It Seeks Currency Stability

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria’s central bank left its main lending rate unchanged for a sixth consecutive meeting as it seeks to hold on to gains it’s made in inflation and exchange-rate stability. The Monetary Policy Committee held the key policy rate at 14 percent, Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Godwin Emefiele told reporters on Tuesday in the capital, Abuja. That was in line with the forecast of all but two of 19 economists in a Bloomberg survey. While inflation in…

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Nigeria Said to Let Market Set Naira Rate on Exchange Window

Nigeria Said to Let Market Set Naira Rate on Exchange Window

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria’s central bank will let the market determine the naira’s rate in a new foreign-exchange window for portfolio investors as the nation struggles to revive its economy amid a dollar shortage. Naira forward contracts and banking stocks rose. Governor Godwin Emefiele told senior bankers that he would tolerate the naira weakening in the window, which started today, according to a person who attended meetings with the policy maker over the past two…

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