By Peter OBIORA InvestAdvocate

Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-Nigeria’s Central Bank Tuesday retained its Interest Rate at 12 percent (12%) as part of the decisions taken at its Communiqué No. 82 of the Monetary Policy Committee Meeting of Monday and Tuesday March 19 and 20, 2012.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) retained MPR 12% with interest rate corridor of +/- 200 basis points.

Also, the CBN unanimously agreed to retain the Cash Reserve Requirement (CRR) at 8% and the Minimum Liquidity Ratio at 30%.

The 10 Member in attendance on the External Sector Developments affirmed that Foreign Exchange Reserves amounted to US$35.43 billion as at March 14, 2012, an improvement over the level of US$ 32.64 billion at end-December 2011.

Also, the Exchange Rate at the wDAS auctions moved from US$/N158.6205 at the end of January 2012 to US$/N157.6206 as on March 14, 2012.

The 10 Member Committee affirmed that this partly reflected the moderation in the demand for Foreign Exchange due to increased inflows and reduced demand.

According to the MPC Report, the Exchange Rate at the Inter-Bank Market appreciated significantly from US$/N161.60 as at end January to US$/N157.70 as at March 14, 2012.

“The rate charged by BDCs also appreciated from US$/N163.00 to US$/N160.00 during the same period. As a result, the premium between the wDAS rate and the rates in the other segments of the market declined substantially over the period” the Committee said.

Click here to download Communiqué No. 82 of the MPC Meeting