JUST-IN: CBN Raises Interest Rate To 18.5% To Tame Inflation

The policy-setting committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Wednesday raised the monetary policy rate (MPR), which measures the interest rate from 18 percent to 18.5 percent in March.

The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele made the announcement during the MPC communique presentation analysis held in Abuja.

Speaking at the programme, Emefiele explained that the decision is to curtail the rising inflation in Nigeria.

According to him, “Our actions to increase the MPR rates are potent because the inflationary pressures you see today confronting us are a global phenomenon and this started in 2022.”

In March, the policy-setting committee raised the MPR from 17.5 to 18 per cent in February to tackle inflation.

However, despite the continued hike of MPR since last year May, the inflation of Nigeria had increased to 22.22 per cent in April 2023, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

The MPR is the baseline interest rate in an economy on which other interest rates within that economy are built.