The Monetary Policy Committee of the CBN increases the interest rate to 18.75 percent

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has increased the interest rate to 18.75 percent from its initial 18.5 percent representing the highest interest rate in 22 years. The announcement was made by the acting CBN governor, Folashodun Shonubi during a press briefing, after the two-day MPC meeting on Tuesday. This is the first MPC meeting chaired by the new acting CBN governor, following the suspension of Godwin Emefiele.

According to the acting CBN governor, the decision to further hike interest rates was driven by the rate of rising inflation in the country. Nigeria’s headline inflation surged to 22.79 percent in June 2023, which is the highest rate since September 2005. This is despite multiple interest rate hikes by the CBN in the last 14 months.