Again, CBN raises Nigeria’s interest rate as inflation worsens

• The apex bank raised the interest rate by 25 basis points to 27.50 percent in November from 27.25 percent in September 2024

The Central Bank of Nigeria’s Monetary Policy Committee has raised the country’s interest rate again amid runaway inflationn.

The apex bank raised the interest rate by 25 basis points to 27.50 percent in November from 27.25 percent in September 2024.

The Governor of CBN, Olayemi Cardoso, announced this during a press conference on Tuesday after the 298th MPC meeting in Abuja.

“The Committee was unanimous in its agreement to raise the monetary policy rate by 25 basis points to 27.50 percent,” he said.

According to him, the decision to raise the country’s monetary policy rate is to tackle inflation, which stood at 33.87 percent in October 2024.

This is the sixth time the apex bank has raised the interest rate since February 2024.

He also announced that the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) was retained at 50 basis points.

In addition, the committee retains the liquidity ratio (LR) at 30 percent and the asymmetric corridor at +500/-100 basis points around the MPR.

Similarly, other monetary policy decisions were retained.

Recall that in September, it raised the country’s interest rate by 50 basis points to 27.25 percent.

However, the decision of the apex bank to continue raising interest rate to check inflation has not had any significant positive effect on the country’s macroeconomic situation as the country is still facing its worst inflation in decades with citizens grappling with cost of living crisis, depleted purchasing power and decimated disposable income.