“Retention of Monetary Policy Rate at 12% Will Boost Stock Investment” – Analysts

Analysts have posited that the adoption of a flexible foreign exchange rate regime and retention of Monetary Policy Rate, MPR, at 12 per cent will boost investment in stocks.

The Monetary Policy Committee, MPC, of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, decided to maintain the MPR, Cash Reserve Requirement, CRR and Liquidity Ratio, LR at 12 per cent, 22.5 per cent and 30 per cent respectively.

The Managing Director of APT Securities Limited, Garba Kurufi stated that considering current inflation rate of 13.72 per cent, investors will prefer investment in stocks than money market instruments.

He said: “Some people investment in bonds at 12 per cent couple but the inflation rate is now higher than the interest rate, so investment in stocks is better.”

“Also, analysts at FSDH Merchant Bank Limited noted that trading in equities advanced on the Nigerian Stock Exchange yesterday on the retention of MPR at 12 per cent. The All Share Index appreciated 0.80 per cent to close at 27,231.50 points, while market capitalization gained N74 billion to close at N9.35 trillion.”