BREAKING: CBN warns NASS not to tamper with revised oil benchmark

Posted on Mar 24, 2020

As the impact of the Coronavirus kick in, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has warned the National Assembly (NASS) not to tamper with revised oil benchmark of $30 per barrel.

CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele gave the warning in Abuja at the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) briefing.

Emefiele commended the fiscal authorities for reacting speedily to the threats posed to the economy by COVID-19 by slashing the 2020 by ₦1.5trillion and also pegging the crude oil benchmark price at $30 from $57.

The CBN Governor then cautioned the legislators not to tamper with the new benchmark price as their past attempts have always been unrealistic.

After the bi-monthly meeting, Emefiele disclosed that members of the committee unanimously agreed to retain all the key rates and parameters changed.

By this development, MPC retained the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) at 13.5 percent; +200/ -500 assymetric corridor around the MPR; Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) at 27.5 percent and Liquidity Ratio at 30 percent.