JUST IN: Again, Inflation Forces CBN To Tighten Liquidity As MPC Raises Lending Rate To 16.5%

The Central Bank of Nigeria in a bid to reduce the inflationary pressures has raised the Monetary Policy Rate for the fourth time in 2022 to 16.5 per cent

Godwin Emefiele, the CBN Governor announced this on Tuesday at the MPR meeting.

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Nigeria’s inflation moved to a 17-year high of 21.09 per cent in October 2021 despite raising the benchmark rate in the last three meetings.

In January, Nigeria’s inflation was 15.60 per cent, but had worsened.

The CBN started to tighten monetary policy from 11.5 per cent to 13.6 per cent in May to 14 per cent in July.

The bank pushed the rates further to 15.5 per cent in the last meeting held in September.

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The bank had maintained 11.5 per cent since 2020 to curb the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Emefiele said the outlook of the global and domestic economy remains cloudy due to the tightening of monetary policies.

According to him, growth in the Nigerian economy is expected to slow down more than early projections.

He said global inflationary pressure has continued to hunt the domestic market.

Emefiele said inflation has begun to decelerate month on month due to the hike in the MPR.

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He said nine members voted to raise the MPR by 100 basis points, while two members voted to raise the rate by 50 basis points.

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