Senate committee on banking, insurance, and other financial institutions has refuted reports claiming that the National Assembly intends to transfer interest rate decisions from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to a committee headed by the minister of finance.
Gatekeepers News reports that Uche Uwaleke, Special Adviser to the Committee’s Chairman, stated that the reports are false and that the committee has rescheduled the planned public hearing to allow for further consultations with key stakeholders due to the controversy generated by the reports.
“My attention has been drawn to a misleading report currently circulating in the media that the National Assembly plans to transfer interest rate decisions from the CBN to a Committee to be chaired by the Minister of Finance,” Uwaleke said.
“This is completely untrue. The fact is that the amendment Bill proposes a Coordinating Committee as an institutional framework for the alignment of fiscal and monetary policies.”
The committee said its objective is neither to usurp the roles of the monetary policy committee (MPC) of the bank nor weaken the instrument independence of the CBN.
“For the avoidance of doubt, section 12 of the current Act establishes the Monetary Policy Committee, as well as stipulates its functions and composition. These provisions are all retained in the amendment Bill,” Uwaleke said.
Senate previously suspended a scheduled public hearing on proposed bills seeking to amend the CBN and the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) Acts on May 28.
