The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has again raised the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), which measures interest rates by 50 basis points, from 26.25% to 26.75% amid soaring inflation and skyrocketing food prices.
Olayemi Cardoso, CBN Governor, disclosed this to journalists at the Bank’s 296th MPC meeting in Abuja, Nigeria on Tuesday.
Key decisions reached at the MPC meeting held on 22nd and 23rd July 2024 are to:
. Raise the MPR by 50 basis points to 26.75 cent from 26.25 cent.
. Retain the asymmetric corridor around the MPR to +100/-300basis points to +500
. Retain the Cash Reserve Ratio of Deposit Money Banks at 45 per cent.
. Retain the Liquidity Ratio at 30.00 per cent.
The CBN boss said the committee was mindful of the effect of rising prices on households and businesses and expressed its resolve to take necessary measures to bring inflation under control.
According to Cardoso, despite the June 2024 uptick in inflation, prices are expected to moderate in the near term as monetary policy gains further traction in addition to further measures by the fiscal authority to address food inflation.
The committee expressed concerns that food inflation and rising energy costs continued to undermine price stability.
He announced September 23 and 24 as the next meeting of the MPC.
Nigeria’s inflation reached an all-time high in June, hitting 34.19 %, according to the latest data from the National Bureau of State Statistics (NBS).
Food inflation also rose in June 2024 to 40.87% year-on-year compared to 40.66% recorded in May 2024, 15.62% higher than the 25.25% recorded in June 2023.