The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has raised the interest rate by 50 basis points to 27.25 percent, marking the fifth increase since February 2024.
CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso announced this during a press briefing following the conclusion of the 297th MPC meeting in Abuja on Tuesday.
This decision comes as Nigeria’s inflation rate declined for the second consecutive month, reaching 32.15 percent in August, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
In its previous meeting in July 2024, the apex bank had raised the interest rate to 26.75 percent.
The rate hike follows just five days after the United States Federal Reserve cut its interest rate by 0.5 percent, the first reduction since July 2023.
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Economist and Executive Director of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, Muda Yusuf, had previously called on the CBN to pause its series of interest rate hikes.
It’s worth noting that since February 2024, the CBN has increased the interest rate four times, from 22.75 percent to 26.75 percent.
Prior to Olayemi Cardoso’s appointment as CBN governor in September 2023, the rate stood at 18.75 percent.
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