The Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Mallam Lamido Sanusi, yesterday, called for the return of all government accounts to the apex bank to reduce cost of government debt. Meanwhile, at the end of CBN’s Monetary Policy Committee, MPC meeting yesterday, it left its three policy rates unchanged. In a communiqué issued at the end of the MPC meeting, Sanusi said that though inflation rate had continued to fall and remained at single digit, election year induced increased government spending and depletion of excess crude accounts, ECA, pose potential threat to future inflation and exposes the economy to vulnerabilities. He said: “The committee observed with satisfaction that in the last four months, all the three measures of inflation continued to be within the single digit inflation target. “However, the Committee noted the potential risks to inflation of increased aggregate spending in the run-up to the 2015 elections. “Overall, government spending in the second half of 2013 has been more moderate than it was in the earlier part of the year. The erosion of the fiscal buffers through the depletion of the ECA has further exposed the economy to vulnerabilities, while the fall in oil revenue has left capital inflows as the only source of external reserves accretion.
Posted on: Wed, 20 Nov 2013 09:03:52 +0000