Nigeria Raises Key Interest Rate to Lure ‘Lukewarm’ Investors
- Central bank sees unwillingness to bring in new capital
- Inflation spike calls for policy tighetening, Emefiele says
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Nigeria raised its monetary policy rate to lure foreign investors and prop up its currency, even as the economy risks slipping into recession.
The Monetary Policy Committee increased the key lending rate to 14 percent from 12 percent, Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Godwin Emefiele told reporters in the capital, Abuja, on Tuesday. That was in line with the forecast of two of the 15 economists in a Bloomberg survey. Two predicted a 100 basis-point increase and one said policy would be tightened by 300 basis points. The rest expected rates will be left unchanged.