.CBN raises interest rate to 18.75% at first post-Emefiele MPC meeting

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has increased the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), which measures interest rate from 18.5 to 18.75 per cent.

Acting CBN Governor, Folashodun Shonubi, announced this to journalists on Tuesday after the bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting at the CBN headquarters in Abuja.

This is the first MPC meeting and decision by the CBN since President Tinubu was sworn in on May 29. It is also the first since Godwin Emefiele was suspended as the bank’s governor in June.

The apex bank raised the interest rate to 18.5 per cent in May, making it the third time in 2023.

The monetary policy rate is the standard interest rate in an economy. All other interest rates used within an economy are built on it.

During his campaign, Tinubu promised to reduce interest rates, but the CBN has maintained its stance on increasing interest rates to curb inflation.

Last week, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported that Nigeria’s headline inflation rate increased to 22.79 per cent in June 2023.

The NBS disclosed in its June Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Inflation Report that the figure is 0.38 per cent points higher than the 22.41 per cent recorded in May.

It said on a year-on-year basis, headline inflation rate in June was 4.19 per cent higher than the rate recorded in June 2022 at 18.6 per cent.

However, many analysts do not agree that inflation merely rose 0.38 per cent in June. Many fault NBS in its data for June considering the militating impact of the removal of fuel subsidy on the nation’s economy.