Create Single Digit Interest Rate, MAN Urges CBN

Agency report 

The Central Bank of Nigeria has been advised to create a window that would grant single digit interest rate to the real sector.

The Chairman, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Ogun Chapter, Wale Adegbite, gave the advice on Monday.

Adegbite, speaking ahead of the Monetary Policy Meeting of the CBN, is confident that such lower interest rate would help boost the real sector.

The MPC will begin its two-day meet on Monday in Abuja, to decide on key economic policies in the country.

Adegbite said the MPC under the CBN had no choice than to retain the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) at 14 per cent. This, he said, was because of the prevalent higher Inflation rate in the country.

Due to rising inflation rate

“We are calling on the CBN to provide a platform that would grant single digit interest rate as part of the palliative measures to reduce the effects of rising inflation rate on the manufacturers’’ he said.

He further said there was the need for the apex bank to improve the capacity of developmental financial institutions. He specifically noted the Bank of Industry, as manufacturers can easily have access to single digit interest rate.

“There is the need for manufacturers to have access to better interest rate like the one granted to agriculture sector for the manufacturers to thrive and produce at optimal capacity,’’ he said.

The MAN chairman also urged the CBN to make foreign exchange more available to the manufacturers rather than the real traders.