The Central Bank has maintained its benchmark lending rate at 13.5 percent. The decision to maintain the policy rate was announced at the end of a week-long meeting by the Monetary Policy Committee to review the health of the economy. The Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Kwesi Amissah-Arthur who chairs the MPC explains the rate was maintained because of some potential risks in the fiscal outlook as well as inflation. The Governor also noted that there is no deliberate policy to allow the cedi to depreciate to insulate the economy from the “Dutch Disease”, and that it will continue to intervene to prevent the cedi from further free fall. The rate would usually be a key factor in interest rate determination and thus likely to impact the deductions made from your salary to settle the interest on your loan or possibly the loan you intend to take in the future. In recent times however, its influence has been questioned since several cuts in the past years have not reflected in lending rates. Source: Joy Business