Tuesday July 7, 05:19 PM
UPDATE 1-Nigeria cenbank lowers interest rate
ABUJA, July 7 (Reuters) - Nigeria's Central Bank (CBSU.PK - news) lowered the country's benchmark interest rate to 6.0 percent from 8.0 percent on Tuesday, surprising analysts who had expected no change.
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC (A050540.KQ - news) ) pegged lending rates at 8 percent and deposit rates at 4 percent.
'A major impediment to the realization of development through the intermediation role of the banking industry is the wide and persistent spread that exists between deposit and lending rates,' Lamido Sanusi said after his first MPC meeting as central bank governor.
Sanusi said the central bank would guarantee all interbank placements from banks and pension funds from July 2009 to March 31, 2010.
Sanusi also said the regulator would immediately liberalize its foreign exchange market, lifting restrictions imposed earlier this year.
Sanusi, who built a reputation for strong corporate governance and conservative lending strategies at First Bank, has made improving banking supervision and disclosure in sub-Saharan Africa's second-biggest economy a priority.
He said there was some 'stress points' in Nigeria's banking system, but no bank would be allowed to fail.
(For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: http://af.reuters.com/ ) (Reporting by Randy Fabi; Editing by Ron Askew) Keywords: NIGERA CENTRALBANK/
|
|
|
Send Article by Email
Send Article by IM
Blog This with Y! 360
Printable View
