CBN Increases Interest Rate To 27.5%

The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has hiked its benchmark interest rate, the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), to 27.50 percent from 27.25 percent in an effort to combat escalating inflation.

This was revealed after the meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The monetary policy rate measures the benchmark interest rate.

The CBN governor Yemi Cardoso announced this in Abuja on Tuesday during the last MPC meeting of the year at the apex bank’s headquarters.

Cardoso said the MPC voted unanimously to raise the MPR by 25 basis points from 27.25% to 27.50%; and retain the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) at 50% for Deposit Money Banks and 16% for Merchant Banks.

“The Committee was unanimous in its agreement to raise the monetary policy rate by 25 basis points to 27.50 percent,” Cardoso said.

The CBN chief also said the MPC retained the Liquidity Ratio (LR) at 30% and Asymmetric Corridor at +500/-100 basis points around the MPR.

“The considerations of the meeting were held on the backdrop of renewed inflationary pressures as the headline food and core measures rose year on year in October 2024. Members therefore agreed unanimously to remain focused on addressing price developments,” Cardoso said.

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This is the sixth time the CBN has raised the interest rate since February 2024. In September, the bank pushed the rate to 27.25% following a drop in the country’s inflation level in August 2024.

Earlier this month, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) pegged the country’s inflation levels at  33.88% for October 2024, up from 32.7% in September 2024.

It reflected a 1.18 percentage point month-on-month hike. The NBS in its Consumer Price Index (CPI) attributed this to increased transportation costs and higher food prices.

According to the agency, on a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 6.55% points higher than the rate reported in October 2023 (27.33%).

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