By Peter OBIORA InvestAdvocate

Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)- The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on tuesday at the end of its monetary policy committee (MPC) meeting increased benchmark interest rate to 13 percent from 12 percent; increasing it to 100 basis points.

This is coming on the heels of the CBN seeking to stem losses to its foreign reserves from defending the local currency as it moved the band to N160-N176 to the U.S. dollar, compared with N150-N160 previously, due to prolonged naira weakness and high dollar demand.

The naira has been on the receiving end over the past few months as falling oil prices have shaken confidence in the assets of Nigeria.

Godwin Emefiele defending the move said efforts to defend naira had led to “dwindling foreign reserves” and that a “more flexible exchange rate is the most viable option”.