This economic update informs about the following matters relating to the Nigerian Economy. The first article is on the Monetary Policy – briefly discusses the outcome of the monitory policy Committee (MPC) which was held on the 23rd and 24th of May 2016. The committee have voted unanimously to retain all key monetary policy decisions adopted in the previous MPC meetings held in March. Specifically, the MPC retained the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) at 12%, Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) at 22.50%, Liquidity Ratio (LR) at 30% and Asymmetric Corridor at +200 and -500 basis points around the MPR. The next article discusses the Crude Oil price increase which reached its highest price in 2016. Nigeria’s bonny light increased by $1.38 from $48.02 per barrel on May 20, 2016 to $49.64 per barrel on May 27, 2016, while Brent crude was sold for $50 per barrel on May 26, 2016. In the next article the focus is on the Stock Market – the All Share Index (ASI) and Market Capitalization both appreciated by 6.6 % in the period under review. Precisely, the ASI increased from 27,116.45 points on May 20, 2016 to 28,902.25 points on May 27, 2016 and Market Capitalization also increased from N9.31 trillion to N9.93 trillion. The final article analyzes the power sector – which shows a decrease in power generated by 12.41 % from 3194 megawatts to 2797.6 megawatts between May 20, 2016 and May 27, 2016 with a peak generation of 3333 megawatts on May 21,2016. The fall had been triggered by the resurgent attacks on gas pipelines.
