CBN raises interest rate to 17.5%

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has increased the country’s Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) by 100 basis points to 17.5 per cent

The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, made this known after the MPC meeting in Abuja on Tuesday.

Emefiele said the MPC retained the asymmetric corridor at +100/-700 basis points around the MPR, adding that the committee kept the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) by 32.5 per cent while liquidity ratio was retained at 30 per cent.

He said the committee considered perennial scarcity of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol, the 2023 general election, continuous rise in energy prices, exchange rate pressure, and continuous rise in insecurity.

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The CBN Governor stated that the MPC members noted that the naira redesign has huge moderating factors to price development on cash.

“MPC was of the view that although inflation rate moderated marginally in December, the economy remained confronted with the risk of high inflation with adverse consequences on the general standards of living.

“Committee, therefore, decided to sustain the current stance of policy at this point in time to further rein in inflation aggressively.

“MPC voted to raise the MPR to 17.5%, retain the asymmetric at +100/-700 basis points around the corridor,” Emefiele said.

The Star