By Afolabi Samuel Odunayo
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced plans to hold its 296th Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting next week. The two day meetings are scheduled for July 22 and 23, 2024, respectively.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the CBN confirmed the meeting, which will be chaired by CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso.
It would be recalled that at the last MPC meeting on May 20 and 21, the committee increased the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), which serves as a benchmark for interest rates, from 24.75 percent to 26.25 percent.
The MPC also maintained the asymmetric corridor at +100 basis points and -300 basis points around the MPR, and kept the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) at 45 percent for deposit money banks and 14 percent for merchant banks.
Cardoso explained the rationale behind the interest rate hike, stating that it was necessary to curb inflation.
He claimed that the committee’s efforts to control inflation were showing positive results.
However, recent data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) indicate that inflation continues to rise.
In its Consumer Price Index (CPI) report for June, the NBS reported that Nigeria’s inflation rate increased to 34.19 percent in June 2024, up from 33.95 percent in May.
The headline inflation rate showed a 0.24 percentage point increase compared to the previous month.
Additionally, food inflation surged to 40.87 percent in June, driven by rising prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages.
