The Central Bank of Nigeria has left its monetary policy rate unchanged at 11.5% during its March 2021 meeting, despite intensifying inflationary pressures, as it tries to prop up an economy that emerged from a recession in the fourth quarter.
Headline inflation hit a four-year high of 17.33% in February, as a result of persistent insecurity caused by rising kidnappings and conflicts between farmers and cattle herders, upward foreign exchange adjustments, ports congestion, and Covid-19-induced supply chain disruptions.
Meantime, the gross domestic product increased 0.1% year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2020, marking the first positive quarterly growth in the last three quarters, helped by the gradual return of economic activities following the easing of coronavirus restrictions.
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