|
Photo: fmbn.gov.ng |
By Olumide T. Agunbiade |Online
Editor
Nigerians were not
buying homes when rates were 18%, what happens now that rates have been
increased to over 20%?
Back In October 2011, the
Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) in an emergency session to bail the
depreciating currency, stabilize the naira and peg the inflation pressure;
announced the following rate changes: Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) was increased
by 275 basis points from 9.25% to 12%. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) also
maintained the current symmetric corridor of +/-200 basis points around the
MPR. Also, the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) was increased from 4 to 8%.
Before seeking and
sampling the opinions of experts on these astronomical hikes, several questions
besieged my thoughts: Should the quest to save the naira be a singular reason
to hike? Did the MPC consider the impact on the real estate sector?