The Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) has been raised from 27.25 per cent to 27.50 per cent yesterday to curb the adverse effects of resurgent inflationary pressures on the economy.
This was announced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Olayemi Cardoso.
He spoke at the end of a two-day meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting in Abuya.
The governor said the highest policy-making body of the apex bank came to the decision to increase the benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points on the basis of rising inflation.
Headline inflation rate had broken a two-month breather to record two consecutive monthly increases, raising alarms that price pressures remain unabated.
Consumer Price Index (CPI), which had dropped 80 basis points and 125 basis points to 33.40 per cent and 32.15 per cent in July and August respectively, resurged in September with an increase of 55 basis points to 32.70 per cent. It worsened with an increase of 118 basis points to 33.88 per cent in October.
Cardoso said: “The persistence of price pressures has adverse effects on citizens’ income and welfare,” underscoring the decision to increase the MPR by 25 basis points.
The apex bank kept other monetary parameters unchanged, with asymmetric corridor around the MPR at +500/-100 basis points, the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) at 50 per cent for Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) and 16 per cent for merchant banks, and the Liquidity Ratio (LR) at 30 per cent.
Cardoso reaffirmed CBN’s commitment on measures that address inflation, stabilise the exchange rate, and support economic recovery.
