CBN Postpones MPC Meeting For the Second Time

Nigeria’s central bank postponed a meeting of its monetary policy committee (MPC) again for a second time since Governor Olayemi Cardoso was nominated to the post in September.

A calendar of MPC meetings published on the central bank’s website had scheduled the next gathering for Monday November 20 and Tuesday November 21.

The “MPC is not holding” a meeting this week, Isa Abdulmumin, the spokesman for the bank, said.

Investors have been looking to the MPC meeting for signals on how the central bank will rein in inflationand stabilize the Naira, which is down some 48% versus the dollar this year.

The central bank held its last monetary policy meeting in july when it raised the benchmark by 25 basis points to curb inflation, which stood at 22.8% in June.

Nigeria’s annual inflation rate rose to 27.33 per cent in October from 26.72 per cent in the previous month, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said last week Wednesday.

Cardoso may give some indication of the central bank’s policy direction on Nov. 24 when he speaks at a dinner organized by the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, Lagos-based Thisday newspapers reported on Monday, citing a statement from the industry group.