CBN Increases Interest Rate To 24.75%

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has raised the Monetary Policy Rate, which benchmarks interest rates, from 22.75 percent to 24.75 percent.

The CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, disclosed this on Tuesday at the 294th meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) press briefing in Abuja.

The MPR is the baseline interest rate in an economy, every other interest rate used within the economy is built on it.

The apex bank boss said the move was to ensure that the country’s rising inflation rate, which stood at 31.70 per cent in February, was moderated.

Cardoso stated that the MPC raised the interest rate by 200 basis points as efforts to tackle rising inflation.

He said: “The committee voted as follows: Raise the MPR by 400bps to 24.75 from 22.75 per cent. Increase the asymmetric corridor to +100bps/-300 basic points.

“Retain the Cash Reserve Ratio of Deposit Money Banks at 45 per cent and adjust the CRR of Merchant banks from 10 per cent to 14 per cent.”

Recall that the CBN MPC raised the country’s interest rate in February to 22.75 per cent.

This meeting marks the second MPC meeting for 2024 and also the 294th meeting of the CBN.