By Olumide T. Agunbiade |Nigerian Real Estate Writer and Blogger
Follow @olumideblogzin
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F 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?
Was the
timing right, considering the fuel subsidy removal already generating heated
debate? Does saving the depreciating naira and foreign reserve have a huge
economic impact as to adjusting rates and fiscal measures to impact on
agriculture and housing market?
