The Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has raised the benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points, from 27.25% to 27.50%, Cyber Reporters report.
CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso announced to journalists after the two-day 298th Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting in Abuja on Tuesday, November 26.
Cardoso, reading the statement from the committee’s 298th meeting on Tuesday in Abuja, stated that all members voted to keep the asymmetric corridor at +500 to -100 basis points.
The CBN governor announced that the apex bank’s foreign reserves increased to $40.88 billion as of November 21, 2024, up from $40.06 billion at the end of October 2024.
Additionally, the MPC kept the deposit money banks’ cash reserve ratio at 15% and their liquidity ratio at 30%.
Recall that at its 297th meeting in September, the MPC increased the MPR, or baseline interest rate, by 50 basis points, from 26.75% to 27.25%.
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.”
In July, Cardoso stated that the move to increase the benchmark interest rate was an aggressive attempt to curb the country’s headline inflation rate and the ongoing increase in food inflation.
