In a major policy pivot to support economic growth as inflation pressures ease, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has aggressively slashed its benchmark interest rate by 350 basis points, crashing it from 26.5 per cent to 23 per cent.
Announcing the decision at a media briefing on Tuesday, after the MPC’s 307th meeting in Abuja, the CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, said, “The Committee decided as follows: reset the monetary policy rate to 23 per cent.”
He said 11 members of the Committee were present at the meeting, and the Committee, in agreeing to reset the MPR and recaliberate the monetary policy market, hinged its decision on the current progress made in the nation’s economic reforms.
According to Cardoso, the Committee is satisfied with the disinflation progress, adding that members noted stable banking sector following successful recapitalisation.
The latest development is a deviation from the hold agreed at the two previous MPC briefings, as well as a 50-basis-point cut announced in February 2026.
The MPC’s decision to cut rates comes amid consecutive decreases in Nigeria’s inflation rates and according to the most recent Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria’s headline inflation rate dropped marginally to 15.39 per cent in August 2026 from 15.43 per cent recorded in July.
Of interest is the fact that following a sudden shift for the economy, consumer prices cooled to mark the third consecutive monthly decline in the inflation rate, abruptly snapping a stinging three-month streak of fiscal hikes.
Details coming…
