The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has maintained the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) at 27 percent, even as the Nigerian naira posted modest gains against the US dollar, strengthening to ₦1,441 per $1.
The appreciation represents a slight improvement from ₦1,452/$1 recorded on Monday. The strengthening comes in the wake of the conclusion of the 303rd meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), which opted to preserve all key policy parameters.
At the meeting, the MPC also kept the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) at 45 percent for deposit money banks and 16 percent for merchant banks; the Liquidity Ratio (LR) remained at 30 percent. Additionally, the Committee adjusted the asymmetric corridor around the MPR to +50 / –450 basis points in a move aimed at tightening control over short-term interest-rate fluctuations.
Commenting on the decision, CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso emphasised that the restrictive monetary stance remains necessary to consolidate the recent gains in the foreign-exchange market and to combat persistent inflationary pressure.
The MPC’s decision to hold rates backs the central bank’s ongoing strategy to stabilise the naira — a strategy that appears to be yielding early results, at least in short-term currency market performance.
