CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso

By Ngozi Onyeakusi—The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has again inceased the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), which measures interest rates by 50 basis points, from 26.25% to 26.75%.

This was announced by the CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, after the apex bank’s 296th Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting in Abuja on Tuesday.

The MPC adjusted the asymmetric corridor around the MPR from +100 to -300 to +500 to -100 basis points

The MPC also retained the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) of deposit money banks at 45% and merchant banks at 14% and retained the Liquidity Ratio at 30%.

Cardoso said the committee was mindful of the effect of rising prices on households and businesses and expressed its resolve to take necessary measures to bring inflation under control.

He said despite the June 2024 uptick in inflation, prices are expected to moderate in the near term as monetary policy gains further traction in addition to further measures by the fiscal authority to address food inflation.

The MPC worried that food inflation and rising energy costs continued to undermine price stability.

He announced September 23 and 24 as the next meeting of the MPC.