12 members of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) have unanimously agreed to further raise the monetary interest rate to 27.50 per cent basis points from 27.25 per cent in a continued drive to contain Nigeria’s rising inflation rate that hit 33.88 per cent in October.
Reading the communique of the 298th meeting of the committee on Tuesday in Abuja, CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, said all members also voted to retain the acemetric corridor at +500 to – 100 basis points.
The CBN governor disclosed that the apex Bank’s foreign reserves rose to $40.88 billion as of November 21, 2024, from $40.06 as at the end of October 2024.
The MPC also retained the Cash Reserve Ratio of deposit money banks at 15 per cent while it held the liquidity ratio as 30 per cent.
Recall the MPC raised the MPR, which is the baseline interest rate, by 50 basis points to 27.25 per cent from 26.75 per cent at its 297th meeting in September.
We report that the latest decision marked the fifth consecutive tightening of the rate since Cardoso took charge as CBN governor and chairman of the MPC.
Credit: Leadership