for-phone-onlyfor-tablet-portrait-upfor-tablet-landscape-upfor-desktop-upfor-wide-desktop-up

Nigeria's central bank to hold interest rate meeting April 3-4 -spokesman

Nigeria's central bank governor Godwin Emefiele speaks during the monthly Monetary Policy Committee meeting in Abuja, Nigeria January 26, 2016. REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde/File Photo

ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria’s central bank plans to hold its next interest rate meeting April 3-4, a spokesman said on Monday, contingent on the upper house of parliament confirming the president’s nominees for the monetary policy committee (MPC).

“The new dates for the MPC are April 3 and 4,” the spokesman told Reuters by phone. “We are hoping that between now and then the members of the committee would have been confirmed by the Senate.”

A political spat over nominations for the MPC meant Nigeria’s Senate had not approved President Muhammadu Buhari’s candidates, leaving the committee unable to form a quorum to set interest rates. The Senate will consider a report into the nominations this week and could approve them, paving the way for the first rate-setting meeting this year.

Reporting by Camillus Eboh; Additional reporting by Chijioke Ohuocha; Writing by Paul Carsten; Editing by Catherine Evans

for-phone-onlyfor-tablet-portrait-upfor-tablet-landscape-upfor-desktop-upfor-wide-desktop-up