CBN Gov., Godwin Emefiele
CBN raises interest rate to 18.5%, highest in 22 years
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has raised the interest rate from 18 percent to 18.5 percent.
The apex bank governor, Godwin Emefiele, announced the decision on Wednesday after the policy-setting committee meeting at the CBN headquarters in Abuja.
The development is the third consecutive time the apex bank will be raising the monetary policy rate (MPR) which measures the interest rate.
The Central Bank of Nigeria’s Monetary Policy Committee MPC has further increased the interest rate by 18.5 per cent to 20.5 per cent from 18 per cent in March.
Godwin Emefiele, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, disclosed this on Wednesday during the MPC communiqué presentation and Analysis.
He explained that the decision is to curtail the rising inflation in Nigeria.
“Our actions to increase the MPR rates are potent because the inflationary pressures you see today confronting us are a global phenomenon and this started in 2022”, he stated.
In March, the policy-setting committee raised the MPR from 17.5 to 18 per cent in February to tackle inflation. However, despite the continued hike of MPR since last year May, the inflation of Nigeria had increased to 22.22 per cent in April 2023, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
The MPR is the baseline interest rate in an economy on which other interest rates within that economy are built.
