Nigeria Raises Interest Rate by 150 Basis Points to 13%

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) led Monetary Policy Committee on Tuesday unanimously agreed to raise interest rates by 150 basis points from 11.5% to 13% to rein in escalating consumer prices.

The apex Governor, Godwin Emefiele disclosed this while speaking to the media on Tuesday, May 24th, 2022.

In 2020, the committee cut interest by 50 basis points to 11.5% in September 2020 to encourage borrowing and deepen new investment to stir growth and halt the plunge in economic productivity during the peak of COVID-19.

The nine-member committee voted unanimously to keep Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) at 13% and others as follow:

• The asymmetric corridor of +100/-700 basis points around the MPR was retained
• CRR was retained at 27.5%
• While Liquidity Ratio was also kept at 30%

The increase may not be unconnected to Nigeria’s high inflation rate of 16.82% in April. The committee is now projecting an aggressive increase in the inflation rate due to the forthcoming general election.

Emefiele said the MPC is suspicious “there might be an aggressive accretion of inflation”. Therefore, to prevent the looming inflation, he said the committee had to raise the interest rate by 150 basis points.