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UPDATE 1-Nigeria central bank holds benchmark interest rate

Published 21/05/2019, 15:08
UPDATE 1-Nigeria central bank holds benchmark interest rate

(Adds quote, detail)
ABUJA, May 21 (Reuters) - Nigeria's central bank held its
benchmark interest rate at 13.5%, its governor Godwin Emefiele
said on Tuesday, after a surprise 0.5 percentage point cut at
the previous meeting.
Most analysts polled by Reuters had expected no change. A
minority predicted a rate cut
The decision comes a day after Nigeria's statistics office
said economic growth had slowed in the first quarter of 2019,
dropping to 2.01% from 2.38% in the previous quarter as the
country's dominant oil sector shrank. Emefiele, who this month became the first Nigerian central
bank governor since the return to democracy in 1999 to be given
a second term, said the central bank predicted that growth this
year would come in at 2.38 percent.
At the last interest rate meeting in March, the central bank
made an unexpected cut as part of an attempt to stimulate growth
in Africa's biggest economy and signal a "new direction".
The move was the first rate cut since November 2015. The
rate had been held at 14% since July 2016 to support the naira
and curb inflation.
Nigeria emerged from its first recession in 25 years in
2017. Higher oil prices and recent debt sales have helped it
accrue billions of dollars in foreign reserves.
But growth remains fragile and inflation edged up in April
to 11.37% from 11.25% a month earlier.


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