The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, through its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), has retained the Monetary Policy Rate at 27.5 per cent.
The MPR is used to benchmark interest rates in the country and the decision is the third time the regulator is retaining the MPR in 2025.
The Governor of the apex bank, Olayemi Cardoso, announced this on Tuesday at the end of the committee’s 301st meeting in Abuja.
Cardoso also disclosed that the CBN retained the asymmetric corridor around the MPR at +500/-100 basis and other parameters.
He said the Committee voted to retain Monetary Policy Rates at 27.5 per cent. retain cash reserve ratio for Deposit Money Banks at 50 per cent and Merchant banks at 16 per cent.
“Also Liquidity Ratio has been maintained at 30 per cent,” he said.
Cardoso added that the decision was premised on the need to sustain efforts in curbing inflation and sustaining prices as it will address emerging monetary pressures.
Cardoso also stated that the MPC acknowledged the effort of the federal government in providing security and its impact on food security.
He also revealed that eight banks had so far met recapitalization requirements of the CBN, while others were working hard to meet up.
He, however, did not disclose the identities of the banks that have crossed the hurdle as at the time of filing this report.
The apex bank had given a 24-month timeline, running from April 1, 2024 to March 31, 2026 for banks with international licences to maintain at least N500 billion, national banks to have minimum of N200 billion, and regional banks to maintain N50 billion as paid up capital.
