The Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN),  raised its benchmark interest rate, the Monetary Policy Rate, MPR, again, to 18.75 per cent in a bid to curb inflation. The MPR is the benchmark for interest rates in the economy.

Meanwhile, the CBN has assured that it will continue to intervene in the foreign exchange, forex market to ensure stable exchange rate, adding that the ongoing volatility in the official market, though expected, will moderate soon.

The annual inflation rate rose for the 19th consecutive months to 22.79 per cent in June, the highest in 17 years, reflecting continued increase in prices of goods and services across the country.

Consequently, the CBN at the end of its Monetary Policy Committee, MPC meeting, yesterday, raised the MPR, for the seventh consecutive time since April 2022, to 18.75 per cent, representing a 25 basis points increase from the previous level of 18.50 per cent.

Though the CBN at the end of the meeting retained the Cash Reserve Ratio, CRR and Liquidity Ratio at 32.5 per cent and 30 per cent respectively, it however narrowed the asymmetric corridor around the MPR to +100/-300 from +100/-700 basis points.