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Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, on Tuesday cut policy interest rate for the
first time in almost four years.
At the end of its two-day rate setting meeting, the CBN Chief, Godwin
Emefiele announced a 200 points cut to 11% in headline interest rate from
13% previously.
The financial regulator also shaves-off the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR)
sharply from 25% to 20%, the deepest cut in the harmonised rate following
a smaller easing done by the CBN last September.
The decision to cut both the policy rate and the harmonised cash reserve
ratio, the CBN Governor said, was to engineer growth by increasing the
flow of lending to critical sectors of the economy like agriculture, solid
minerals, critical social infrastructure and manufacturing.