Nigeria Central Banks Lifts Benchmark Rate to Record 18.5%

Nigeria delivered an unprecedented seventh consecutive interest-rate hike to dampen inflation and support its currency.

(Bloomberg) — Nigeria delivered an unprecedented seventh consecutive interest-rate hike to dampen inflation and support its currency.

The monetary policy committee lifted the benchmark rate to 18.5% from 18%, Governor Godwin Emefiele said in Abuja, the capital, on Wednesday. That’s the highest level since the policy rate was adopted in 2006. The increase matched the median estimate of 14 economists in a Bloomberg survey.

The MPC has jacked up rates by 700 basis points since May 2022 to contain an inflation rate that’s been at more than double the top end of its 6% to 9% target for 11 months.

–With assistance from Simbarashe Gumbo, Emele Onu and Renee Bonorchis.

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