As high inflation in Nigeria continues to threaten the Nigerian economy, the possibility of the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) going higher is a major source of scare for Nigerians
Charles Fakrogha, a financial analyst, on iBrand TV’s Business Breakfast early on Monday, highlighted that “the continuous interest hike is killing the SME’s”.
The Central Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee will be having its meeting in May between Tuesday and Wednesday this week to discuss how to stem the high rate of inflation.
To this end, Fakrogha said: “I hope all the MPC members will vote for the MPR parametres to remain unchanged”.
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According to him, “you cannot continue to increase your MPR because that is the benchmark rate that most financial institutions use in terms of loans to SMEs”.
And if it is increased again, this will be the seventh increase in a row, at an all time high of 18%. Commercial banks will want to give loans to SMEs at 25-26%.
He said the Central bank’s team is making life difficult for owners of small and medium scale businesses in Nigeria.
The financial analyst suggested that since this is the last MPC meeting of this administration, they should just leave it as it is currently.
