The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Thursday voted unanimously to retain the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), which is the baseline lending rate, at 27.50 per cent.
The MPC took the decision at the end of its 299th meeting and the first for 2025 held from Wednesday February 19 to Thursday February 20.
CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, disclosed this at the end of the meeting held in Abuja.
The committee also voted to retain the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) at 50 per cent for Deposit Money Banks and 16 per cent for Merchant Banks.
The MPC equally retained the Liquidity Ratio (LR) at 30 per cent and the Asymmetric Corridor at +500/-100 basis points around the MPR.
The decision of the CBN follows a recent drop in the country’s inflation to 24.48 per cent in January 2025.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in its Consumer Price Index (CPI) rebased results released in Abuja on Tuesday, said the latest inflation figure is an improvement from December 2024 when the inflation rate was 34.80 per cent.
The CPI is a key macroeconomic indicator that reflects the movement of aggregate price levels in a country and is expected to be rebased every five years. However, in Nigeria, the last CPI rebasing was conducted in 2009.
Analysts had predicted a hold, citing CPI rebasing and the need to allow the previous hikes in interest rates reflect on the economy.
