Empty-Chair Crisis at Nigerian Central Bank Goes Down to Wire
- ‘It won’t be very bad’ if meeting is delayed, lawmaker says
- Monetary Policy Committee lacks appointed members for quorum
Photographer: Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP via Getty Images
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For the second time this year, Nigeria’s central bank finds itself in suspense on whether it’ll have enough policy makers to be allowed make an interest-rate decision.
Senate lawmakers have agreed to start vetting President Muhammadu Buhari’s nominees to the Monetary Policy Committee, but it’s far from certain that the house will complete it in time for an announcement on borrowing costs currently scheduled for March 20. The central bank panel already lacked a quorum to decide on rates at its meeting in January as a standoff in Parliament prevented the approval of the president’s candidates.