The Acting CBN Governor, Folashodun Shonubi, who disclosed this on Tuesday while reading the communiqué of the fourth MPC meeting of the year said, “In summary, the MPR (Monetary Policy Rate) voted to raise the policy rate by 25 basis points from 18.5 to 18.75%,” The PUNCH reports.
The Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has confirmed the apex bank’s increment of the benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 18.75%.
The Acting CBN Governor, Folashodun Shonubi, who disclosed this on Tuesday while reading the communiqué of the fourth MPC meeting of the year said, “In summary, the MPR (Monetary Policy Rate) voted to raise the policy rate by 25 basis points from 18.5 to 18.75%,” The PUNCH reports.
Shonubi told journalists at the end of the two-day MPC meeting in Abuja that the committee voted to adjust the asymmetric corridor at +100 and -300 basis points around the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR).
Analysts’ expectations had been divergent ahead of the first MPC meeting after the suspension of Godwin Emefiele as the CBN governor.
The CBN started its monetary policy tightening cycle in May 2022 with its benchmark interest rate rising from 11.5% to 18.5% in May this year (2023).
President Bola Tinubu had said that interest rates needed to be reduced to increase investment and consumer purchasing in ways that sustain the economy at a higher level.
Analysts had said that with the recent removal of fuel subsidy, the increase in energy prices, and the liberalisation of the exchange rate, inflationary pressure will no doubt persist unless the MPC considers options that will deal with the pressure aggressively.
In his inauguration speech on May 29, Tinubu said, "Interest rates need to be reduced to increase investment and consumer purchasing in ways that sustain the economy at a higher level.”