It’s unlikely that the Nigerian central bank’s Monetary Policy Committee will meet as scheduled next week to decide on interest rates because new committee members haven’t been approved, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.
“We are not considering the confirmation” of the MPC members, Rafiu Ibrahim, the head of the senate banking committee, said by phone from Abuja on Friday, without commenting on a possible delay. “The senate has an issue with the executive. Anything to do with a confirmation will not be considered.”
The MPC has kept the key rate at a record high 14 percent since July 2016, trying to balance bringing down inflation and boosting an economy that exited recession last year. While inflation is at the slowest in 20 months, all but one of the 11 economists in a Bloomberg survey forecast the committee will still keep policy unchanged.
In case the meeting doesn’t take place in January “we will just have a few weeks postponement,” he said.
