January 24, (THEWILL) – The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Tuesday, raised its benchmark interest rate by 100 basis points to 17.5%, citing fears of a further rise in inflation.
CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, announced this after the first two-day Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting of 2023, in Abuja.
The decision of the CBN came after a gradual drop in the inflation rate, which decelerated to 21.34 percent in December of 2022, slightly down from a 17-year peak of 21.47 percent in November 2022, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
After the CBN increased MPR in November 2022, Maximum Lending Rate in Nigeria rose to 29.13 per cent in December, from 28.14 per cent held in November.
Prime Lending Rate also rose from 13.17 per cent in November to 13.85 per cent in December of the same year.
But briefing newsmen on Tuesday, Emefiele said, while the MPC raised the monetary policy rate by 100 basis points to 17.5%, it kept the asymmetric corridor at +100/-700 basis points around the MPR.
The MPC retained Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) by 32.5% while the liquidity ratio was kept at 30%.
The CBN also said its January 31, 2023, deadline for the validity of the old N200, N500 and N1,000 notes remains.
About the Author
