Economics
Nigeria Unexpectedly Cuts Key Rate for First Time Since 2015
- Central bank lowers benchmark interest rate to 13.5% from 14%
- Monetary policy must help boost economy, jobs, governor says
The headquarters of the Nigerian central bank in Abuja, Nigeria.
Photographer: George Osodi/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Nigeria’s central bank unexpectedly reduced its key interest rate for the first time in more than three years to help boost the economy.
The Monetary Policy Committee voted to cut the rate to 13.5 percent from 14 percent, Governor Godwin Emefiele told reporters Tuesday in the capital, Abuja. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey was for the key rate to be held at 14 percent.