CBN raises interest rate again to 27.5%

The Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has again  raised the benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points from 27.25% to 27.50% 

CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso disclosed this to journalists at the end of the two-day  298th Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting in Abuja on Tuesday, Nov. 26. 

Reading the communique of the 298th meeting of the committee on Tuesday in Abuja, Cardoso, said all members also voted to retain the acemetric corridor at +500 to – 100 basis points. 

The CBN governor disclosed that the apex Bank’s foreign reserves rose to $40.88 billion as of November 21, 2024, from $40.06 as at the end of October 2024. 

The MPC also retained the Cash Reserve Ratio of deposit money banks at 15 per cent while it held the liquidity ratio as 30 per cent. 

Recall the MPC raised the MPR, which is the baseline interest rate, by 50 basis points to 27.25 per cent from 26.75 per cent at its 297th meeting in September. 

Cardoso said: “The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted to raise Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) by 25bbasis points from 27.25% to 27.50%; retains Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) for Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) at 50% and 16% for Merchant Banks. 

“The committee retains the Liquidity Ratio (LR) at 30% and Asymmetric Corridor at +500/-100 basis points around the MPR.” 

Cardoso had said in July that the decision to raise the benchmark interest rate was an aggressive attempt to tame the persistent rise in food inflation and the nation’s headline inflation rate.