. CBN raises interest rate to 18.5%
Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 2.31 per cent (year-on-year) in real terms in the first quarter of the year of 2023.
National
Bureau of Statistics (NBS) gave the figure in a release issued in Abuja, yesterday.
Explaining that the growth represented a
declined from 3.52 per cent in the preceding quarter and 3.11 per cent recorded
in the first quarter of 2022, the report shows that reduction in GDP
performance is attributed to the adverse effects of the cash crunch experienced
during the quarter.
According to the report, growth was largely
driven by the services sector, which recorded a growth of 4.35 per cent and
contributed 57.29 per cent to the aggregate GDP.
The report also show that agriculture sector
grew by -0.90.per cent, lower than the growth of 3.16 per cent recorded in the
first quarter of 2022 while growth of the industry sector improved to 0.31 per
cent relative to – 6.81 per cent recorded in the first quarter of 2022, with agriculture
and industry sectors contributing less to aggregate GDP in the quarter under
review compared to the first quarter of 2022.
In a related development, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), yesterday
unanimously voted to increase its monetary policy interest rates to 18.5 per
cent.
Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin
Emefiele, disclosed this while reading the communiqué of the third Monetary
Policy Committee (MPC) meeting of the year, yesterday.
It will be recalled that in March that the MPC of the
bank voted to increase the benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points to 18 per
cent.
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