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Retain 24.75% lending rate, experts advise CBN

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Some financial and economic experts have advised the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to retain the lending rate of 24.75 per cent.

The experts, who gave the advice in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja spoke against the backdrop of the MPC meeting scheduled for Monday and Tuesday.

A renowned economist, Prof. Ken Ife, said that the seeming success of aggressive tightening in the last two meetings might propel the committee to further tighten the rates.

Ife, Lead Consultant on Private Sector Development to the ECOWAS Commission,
however, advised the committee to retain the prevailing rates.

“They might want to increase it. The worst case scenario is for them to retain.

“This is because the policy is working to tighten the grip on inflation. It is actually yielding results.

” Even though, relative to last year, inflation is increasing, when you look at month on month inflation, all the five inflation indices are decreasing.

“Headline inflation, which is the composite price index, food basket index, core inflation, urban inflation, and rural inflation. They all went up in the last 12 months, but month on month, between March and April, they all started going down.

” So, the aggressive tightening is working, but it needs more time for the growth to become significant and reflect on the next months,” he said.

According to Ife, the MPR, being less than inflation, is a major challenge for investors.

” Inflation is 33.1 per cent while the lending rate is 24.75 per cent. This does not encourage investment.

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” So, the MPR could continue to rise while inflation continues to decline until one gets higher than the other.

“In the prevailing circumstance, private sector investment could be crowded out because if banks are forced to borrow at a high level, their lending rates will also get higher.

” It is advisable to retain the rates but I know that they are minded to increase it,” he said.

Another economist, and past president of the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI), Dr Chijioke Ekechukwu, also urged the MPC to halt further tightening of the lending rate

“At the inception of the new MPC, it has been about tightening. Tightening became necessary because of the amount of money in circulation, which needed to be mopped up.

“This has resulted in a high MPR, which has equally led to a high interest rate in the financial sector.

“Having reached this far, instead of tightening further, they should hold on to the existing rates to be able to see the impact of the tightening that has been done already.

“The more tightening that we have, the more the inflation rate. Today, there is a positive correlation between high MPR and high inflation rate,” he said.

According to him, it is not supposed to be so, but our economic situation is peculiar because there are other factors outside the purview of the monetary policy that also contribute to a high inflation rate.

“For example, food inflation has nothing to do with monetary policy. It is a security challenge.

“Also, the increase in the pump price of PMS has nothing to do with monetary policy,” he said.

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Uche Uwaleke, a professor of Capital Market and the president of Capital Market Academics of Nigeria, urged the MPC to retain the prevailing rates to mitigate the impact of its aggressive policy tightening on Nigerians.

According to Uwaleke, if I were a member of the MPC, I would vote for a hold position as the aggressive policy rate hike is taking a toll on output.

“Production is stifled because of the very high cost of funds. Moreover, the seeming over reliance on the MPR as a tool to tame inflation does not appear to be making any meaningful impact.

“This is due to the significant non-monetary factors driving inflation in Nigeria, such as high cost of energy, transport as well as insecurity in the food-belt regions of the country,” he said. (NAN)

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NRC ready for cargo train services – MD

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The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) has said the Western district is ready for cargo train movement between Lagos and Kano on the narrow gauge.

The Managing Director of NRC, Dr Kayode Opeifa, said this on Tuesday, at Dugbe Ibadan Narrow Gauge Train Station, after inspecting Moniya Freight Park.

“The essence of this tour is to enable us to access our readiness to handle the cargo side of our business as business and logistics facilitator.

“We are happy with the extent of what we have seen and we can comfortably say we are ready to move any manner of cargo for any of our customers,” he said.

At Omi Adio, Opeifa after inspecting the facility put in place to establish another cargo park, directed the acquisition of more land around the proposed dry port area to provide for anticipated business for the dry port.

The inspection took Opeifa and his management team to the Obafemi Awolowo Train Station, Moniya and the Moniya Cargo Park, where he inspected the readiness of the port to facilitate cargo business.

During inspection at the Western District Headquarters at Dugbe, he charged workers to double their effort and improve the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the railway.

“I can approve an improvement in your allowances once we improve our IGR. So, let us be committed to doubling our efforts,” he said.

He said management was determined to recommence cargo commitment from Lagos to Kano, adding that he would be at Ibadan to flag off the Dugbe end of the movement once the service begins.

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He also commended railway women, urging them to continue to prove their mettle in keeping the wheel of the rail going.

Addressing the welfare of pensioners, Opeifa assured that the corporation would continue to work at improving their welfare.

“I do not need to be told, I can feel so many things and I can only assure you that the management will continue to work at improving your living conditions,” he said.

On vandals sabotaging the corporation efforts at improving its services, Opeifa emphasised that there were no scraps in the Nigerian Railway Corporation.

“All we have are rail materials. All our materials are in serviceable conditions. From here, we are moving cement from Ewekoro to Osogbo and to Ilorin.

“All these wagons you see, all these rail sleepers, all these irons are still working and all security operatives have been directed to arrest and prosecute anyone caught vandalising our property.

“No one is permitted to carry our materials. No letter of approval is sufficient to allow anyone to do so, security operatives should put a call across to us to enable us authenticate such activity,” he said.

At the Ladoke Akintola Train Station, Omi Adio, Dr Seye Oyeleye, the Director General of Development Agenda for Western Nigeria, expressed readiness to work with the corporation to reactivate the narrow gauges within some states in the Southwest for mass transportation. (NAN)

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Court delivers judgment in Anyanwu’s suit April 28

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The Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday, fixed April 28 for judgment in a suit filed by Sen. Samuel Anyanwu, seeking to stop his removal as Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s national secretary.

Justice Inyang Ekwo fixed the date after Anyanwu’s counsel, Ken Njemanze, SAN, and defence lawyers adopted their processes and presented their arguments for and against the suit.

Justice Ekwo also ordered Njemanze to make available to the court within seven days of the order the judgement of the Supreme Court delivered on Friday.

“I am going to give you a fairly long date for judgment but if the judgment is ready before that date, parties will receive hearing notice,” the judge said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Supreme Court had March 21, set aside the decision of the Court of Appeal, Enugu Division, delivered on Dec. 20, 2024, which affirmed the removal of Anyanwu as the national secretary of PDP.

In a unanimous judgment by a five-member panel, the apex court ruled that matters concerning the leadership or membership of a political party are internal affairs and should not be subject to judicial intervention.

The court held that the Federal High Court lacked jurisdiction to hear the matter initially brought by Aniagwu Emmanuel, a member of the party.

However, the judgment, expected to bring an end to the crisis, had left the PDP leadership and members in disarray, as the two main parties in the suit; Anyanwu and Sunday Ude-Okoye, now claim to be valid national secretary after the apex court decision.

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Meanwhile, Anyanwu, in the instant suit, had originally sued the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Umar Damagun, the acting National Chairman of PDP, as 1st and 2nd defendants.

In the ex-parte motion: marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/254/2025 dated and filed on Feb. 13 by Njemanze, Anyanwu sought two prayers.

He sought an order of interim injunction, restraining INEC from accepting, acting on or giving effect to any correspondence from the PDP not signed by him pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice for interlocutory injunction.

He also sought an order of interim injunction restraining Damagun from dispatching to INEC any correspondence purportedly emanating from PDP signed by the acting chair and not counter signed by him.

However, the court joined had, on Feb. 28, given an order joining the PDP and Udeh-Okoye in the suit as 3rd and 4th defendants.

The judge equally joined Dr Ali Odela and Mr Setonji Koshoedo as 5th and 6th defendants respectively.

While Odela is said to be the national vice chairman, PDP’s South East, Koshoedo is said to be the deputy national secretary of the party.

Earlier while adopting their processes, Akintayo Balogun, who appeared for Damagun and Odela, including T.J. Aondo, SAN, who appeared for PDP, challenged the jurisdiction of the court.

They urged the court to dismiss Anyanwu’s suit.

Also, Eric Ekeret, who represented the Udeh-Okoye and J.A. Musa who appeared for Koshoedo, prayed the court to grant their relief in the interest of justice.

Ahmed Mohammed, lawyer to the INEC, equally moved their processes in the suit.

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The lawyer, who said they filed a counter affidavit and a written address, adopted their applications.

On his alert, Njemanze, while adopting his processes, prayed the court to grant the application and resolved the issues raised in favour of his client (Anyanwu).(NAN)

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Tinubu inaugurates 2nd Niger Bridge access road

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President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday inaugurated the construction of Phase 2B of the access road to the Second Niger Bridge in Onitsha.

This marks a key step in improving transport infrastructure and regional connectivity in the South East.

Tinubu was represented by Anambra governor, Charles Soludo, at the event. He stated that the Second Niger Bridge, inaugurated in 2023, has significantly eased travel between the South East and other regions.

However, he explained that the bridge’s full benefits have been limited by incomplete access roads. The newly launched Phase 2B aims to address this issue by enhancing connectivity.

The project includes a 17.5km dual carriageway featuring seven bridges and modern infrastructure. These upgrades will include security cameras to enhance safety along the route.

The road will extend from the Umunya/Ogbunike axis of the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway.

It will pass through the Old Enugu Road Interchange, Ogidi, Nkpor-Umuoji Road Interchange, and the Asaba-Igbuzor Road Interchange, ending at Valley Bridge.

Earlier, Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, praised Governor Soludo for his outstanding leadership and transformative efforts across various sectors, particularly in road infrastructure.

Umahi highlighted that Anambra currently has 18 ongoing federal road projects. These include the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway, which has been divided between MTN and another company for efficient execution.

He assured that payments would be linked to work progress, with 30 per cent of the contract sum already disbursed. He urged local communities to support the project and prevent disruptions.

Umahi also reaffirmed Tinubu’s commitment to the South East. He cited key appointments, including the Chief of Naval Staff and the Minister of Works, as evidence of the administration’s dedication.

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The contractor, CGC Nigeria Limited, represented by General Manager, Gius Cheng, promised to complete the project on schedule while maintaining the highest quality standards. (NAN)

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