CBN Increases Interest Rate to 17.5%

The Central Bank of Nigeria’s Monetary Policy Committee has decided to raise the benchmark interest rate by 1 percentage point, bringing it to 17.5%.

This was announced by the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, during the first MPC meeting of the year on Tuesday.

This marks the fifth time the CBN has increased the interest rate, despite opposition from manufacturers and other key stakeholders.

The CBN stated that previous increases are starting to show an effect, as evidenced by the slight decrease in the inflation rate seen in December 2022.

Additionally, the CBN emphasized the importance of continuing to implement tight fiscal policies.

The CBN has also maintained the asymmetric corridor at +100/-700 basis points around the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR).

The Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) was kept at 32.5%, and the liquidity ratio remained at 30%. The bank had previously raised the MPR from 11.5% to 16.5% earlier last year.