On Wednesday, the Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria unanimously decided to raise the interest rate on its monetary policy to 18.5%.
The bank’s MPC decided to raise the benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points, to 18%, in March. This information was provided in the communiqué from the third MPC meeting of the year by CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele on Wednesday.
At the conclusion of the two-day meeting in Abuja, Mr. Emefiele spoke to the media and said that the committee had decided to maintain the asymmetrical corridor at +100 and -700 basis points around the MPR.
The MPC cited problems in the supply chain and high energy costs as reasons for the growing inflation rate, among other factors that are beyond of reach of the CBN.
He added, “The current trend in price development would continue to be monitored by the bank with greater collaboration with fiscal authority to address the drivers of inflation.”
Analysts in the country had predicted the CBN and the MPC might raise the lending rates at the end of the Monetary Policy Committee.
The apex bank had increased the MPR from 11.5 per cent earlier last year to 18 per cent in March this year across six consecutive rate hikes.
More details soon…
