Businesses demand cheaper loans as CBN cuts rates - punchng.com

The Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria has cut the benchmark interest rate by 350 basis points to 23 per cent from 26.5 per cent, prompting Organised Private Sector leaders to demand cheaper loans for businesses. The CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, announced the decision on Tuesday at the end of the committee’s 307th meeting in Abuja. “The committee decided as follows: reset the monetary policy rate at 23 per cent,” Cardoso said. The committee also recalibrated the standing facilities corridor to +50/-300 basis points around the MPR, while retaining the Cash Reserve Requirement for deposit money banks at 45 per cent, merchant banks at 16 per cent and non-Treasury Single Account public sector deposits at 75 per cent.