The Central Bank of Nigeria’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has lowered the interest rate to 27.00 percent marking the first rate cut of 2025.
CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, announced the decision on Tuesday in Abuja during a press briefing following the conclusion of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting.
He explained that the committee reached the decision after a vote, and agreed to:
The committee decided to cut the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) by 50 basis points, bringing it down to 27%.
It also adjusted the standing lending and deposit facilities corridor to +250 and -250 basis points around the MPR.
In addition, the Cash Reserve Requirement (CRR) for commercial banks was increased to 45%, while the rate for merchant banks remains unchanged at 16%.
A new 75% CRR was introduced specifically for public sector deposits not held in the Treasury Single Account (TSA).
Meanwhile, the Liquidity Ratio was left unchanged at 30%.
Cardoso explained that the decision was driven by consistent drops in inflation over the past five months, expectations of further declines through the rest of 2025, and the need to help boost economic recovery.
He added that the change to the standing facilities corridor is intended to make the interbank market more efficient and strengthen how monetary policy decisions are passed through the financial system.
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