CBN Cuts Interest Rate

Nigeria's Central Bank on Tuesday cut policy interest rate for the first time in almost four years.

At the end of its two-day rate setting meeting, the CBN Chief, Godwin Emefiele announced a 2 points cut to 11% in headline interest rate from 13% previously.

The financial regulator also shaves-off the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) sharply from 25% to 20%, the deepest cut in the harmonised rate following a smaller easing done by the CBN last September.

The decision to cut both the policy rate and the harmonised cash reserve ratio, the CBN Governor said, was to engineer growth by increasing the flow of lending to critical sectors of the economy like agriculture, solid minerals, critical social infrastructure and manufacturing.

CHANNELSTV