The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) rose from its two-day MPC meeting on Tuesday, 25th July 2023 with the increase of the benchmark interest rate (MPR) by 25 basis points to 18.75% from its initial 18.5%.
The acting CBN governor, Folashodun Shonubi during a press briefing, after the two-day MPC meeting said the asymmetric corridor was narrowed to +100/-300 basis points around the MPR from +100/-700 basis points; CRR was retained at 32.5% while the liquidity Ratio was also kept at 30%
According to the MPC, the decision to further hike interest rates was driven by the rate of rising inflation in the country.
Nigeria’s headline inflation surged to 22.79% in June 2023, which is the highest rate since September 2005. This is despite multiple interest rate hikes by the CBN in the last 14 months.