Tony Elumelu hails MPC decision on lending rate hike

Chairman of the United Bank for Africa, UBA, Tony Elumelu, has said Nigeria is on the right track economically following the decisions of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, at its last Monetary Policy Committee, MPC, meeting on February 27.

Recalls that the CBN had during the meeting, raised the Monetary Policy Rate, MPR, by 400 basis points to 22.75 percent from 18.75 percent as part of its tightening policy of the monetary space

The business mogul in an interview on Thursday expressed cautious optimism that Nigeria is ‘getting there’, emphasising that ‘transformation’ takes time and it is the right time to keep going with the current reforms.

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However, he stated that authorities must be consistent and focused in their policies to ensure they yield the expected results in the medium to long term.

“Of all the decisions the Central Bank took at the last MPC, if I were there, those are the exact decisions I would have taken in this circumstance.

“Hopefully, let us continue and not relent. It’s still early days.

“This is just the starting, but it seems one can be fairly and cautiously optimistic that we’re getting there. We are on the right track,” he assured.

He also expressed optimism that the value of the naira will start rising substantially against the dollar.

“What I know as a transformation person is that the transformation journey takes time. And, you know it comes with a few initial pains, but (it’s good) to stay focused, stay the course, be consistent, be sincere and be committed to it.

“What I see, you know, I mean fixing the issues, making sure that interest rate is not negative to the investor, making sure that … it’s an inflationary situation and that we’re contracting as much as possible, so that we have fewer Naira chasing dollars, giving confidence to the market”, he said.