CBN to hold MPC meeting September 23

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced its forthcoming monetary policy committee (MPC) meeting.

In a statement on Wednesday, the CBN said its 297th MPC meeting will be held on September 23 and 24.

The MPC meeting is set up to review the country’s economic and financial conditions and determine the appropriate monetary policy direction in the short to medium term.

The committee, led by Olayemi Cardoso, CBN governor, is the highest policy-making committee of the bank.

At the last meeting held on July 22 and 23, the committee raised the monetary policy rate (MPR), which benchmarks interest rates, from 26.25 percent to 26.75 percent – an increase of 50 basis points.

The MPC adjusted the asymmetric corridor at +500 basis points and -100 basis points around the MPR, while the cash reserve ratio (CRR) was retained at 45 percent, and liquidity ratio at 30 percent.

Speaking on the monetary efforts to tame inflation, Cardoso said the committee was mindful of the effect of rising prices on households and businesses, and “is resolved to take necessary measures to bring inflation under control”.

He also said the committee suggested the need to check the activities of farmers in order to address the food supply deficit in the Nigerian market to moderate food prices.

For two consecutive months, the country’s headline inflation has dropped.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Nigeria’s inflation rate declined to 33.40 percent in July and 32.15 percent in August.