The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) last week halted its policy rate tightening cycle at the first meeting of the year, marking the first pause since May 2022 Analysts applauded CBN’s role in the drop in inflationary pressures supported by a stable naira buoyed by improved forex liquidity. Our man, Bamidele Ogunwusi writes;

There is no doubt that fighting inflation in an import-dependent economy like Nigeria is never a simple task.

That explained why the need to tame inflation and sustain exchange rate stability formed part of the key parameters that determined Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decision to keep rates unchanged at its 299th meeting held recently in Abuja.

Accordingly, the Committee voted to hold the MPR constant at 27.50 per cent and retain all other parameters – Cash Reserve Requirement (CRR) for Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) and Merchants Banks at 50 per cent and 16 per cent, respectively; the asymmetric corridor around the MPR at +500bps/-100bps and the liquidity ratio at 30 per cent.

Nigeria’s annual inflation rate stood at 24.48 per cent in January, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said. The figure is well down from the previous month’s figure after the Nigeria’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) was rebased for the first time in more than a decade.

https://independent.ng/mpc-naira-sustains-rally-as-inflationary-pressures-moderate/