The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has retained the benchmark interest rate at 26.5 per cent for the second time.
The CBN governor, Olayemi Cardoso, announced the decision on Tuesday at the end of the committee’s 306th meeting in Abuja.
Cardoso said, “The Committee decided as follows: retain the monetary policy rate at 26.5 per cent.”
The move follows an earlier hold at the previous MPC briefing, and a 50-basis-point cut announced in February 2026.
The committee also retained Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) at 45.0% for Deposit Money Banks, 16.0% for Merchant Banks, and 75% on non-TSA public sector deposits, while liquidity Ratio was kept at 30.0%
The latest decision signals the committee’s preference to keep existing monetary policy measures in place while monitoring developments in inflation, exchange rate stability and broader macroeconomic conditions.
(Ripples)