Business
JUST IN: CBN Raises Interest Rate to 26.75% Amid Surging Inflation
The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Monetary Policy Committee, MPC, on Tuesday raised the interest by 50 basis points to 26.75 per cent from 26.25 per cent in May 2024.
CBN governor, Olayemi Cardoso, announced this at a press briefing on Tuesday at the end of the two-day 296th MPC in Abuja.
According to him, the decision to further increase the interest rate is to tackle the country’s rising core inflation and food inflation which stood at 34.19 per cent and 40.87 per cent, respectively in June.
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He said members of the MPC are not oblivious of the need to address the rising prices of food in Nigeria, necessitating the interest rate hike.
DAILY POST reports that the implication of the interest rate hike is that businesses, farmers, manufacturers and investors will have to pay more to get loans from banks.
The 296th MPC meeting is the fourth time the interest rate has been increased since the appointment of Cardoso in September last year.
Recall that in May 2023, when President Bola Tinubu was inaugurated, Nigeria’s interest rate stood at 18.75 per cent while inflation rate stood at 22.41 per cent.
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Meanwhile, despite CBN’s continued interest rate hikes, the country’s inflation has not cooled off.
Earlier analysts had called for a pause in the hike of the interest rate.
The Director of the Centre for Promotion of Private Enterprise, Muda Yusuf, backed call for a pause in the hike of the interest rate.
According to him, the monetary instruments have been overstretched, hence not productive.
“I think we have overstretched monetary instruments because of inflation. They should put a pause on interest rate hikes,” he said.
Business
CBN Retains Interest Rate At 27%
The Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria has voted to retain the benchmark interest rate at 27 per cent.
CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, announced the decision on Tuesday following the apex bank’s 303rd MPC meeting in Abuja.
Cardoso stated that the committee also resolved to keep all other monetary policy indicators unchanged.
READ ALSO:CBN Issues Directive Clarifying Holding Companies’ Minimum Capital
He noted that the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) remains at 45 per cent for commercial banks and 16 per cent for merchant banks, while the 75 per cent CRR on non-TSA public sector deposits was equally maintained.
Cardoso added that the Liquidity Ratio was retained at 30 per cent, and the Standing Facilities Corridor was adjusted to +50/-450 basis points around the Monetary Policy Rate.
The decision comes as Nigeria records its seventh consecutive month of declining inflation, which eased to 16.05 per cent in September 2025.
Business
CBN Issues Directive Clarifying Holding Companies’ Minimum Capital
The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has issued a definitive directive detailing how financial holding companies should calculate their minimum paid-up capital, following weeks of confusion that delayed the release of some banks’ half-year and nine-month financial statements.
In a circular dated November 14, 2025, the apex bank acknowledged “divergent interpretations” of the term minimum paid-up capital as stated in Section 7.1 of the 2014 Guidelines for Licensing and Regulation of Financial Holding Companies.
To eliminate ambiguity, the CBN ruled that minimum paid-up capital must be computed strictly as the par value of issued shares plus any share premium arising from their issuance.
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“All Financial Holding Companies are required to apply this definition in computing their minimum capital requirement—without exception for subsidiaries,” the circular stated.
The regulator added that the directive takes immediate effect, noting that any previous interpretation that does not align with the new clarification “should be discontinued forthwith.”
The move is expected to calm market anxiety and provide clarity for lenders navigating ongoing regulatory capital requirements.
Business
Naira Records Massive Week-on-week Depreciation Against US Dollar
The Nigerian Naira recorded massive week-on-week losses against the United States dollar at the official foreign exchange market.
The Central Bank of Nigeria’s exchange rate showed that the Naira dipped significantly to end the week at N1,456.73 on Friday, November 21, 2025, down from N1,442.43 traded on November 14.
This means that on a weekly basis, the Naira shed N14.06 against the dollar at the official market.
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However, at the black market, currently battling with low patronage, it remained stable at N1,465, the same rate traded last week.
The development comes despite Nigeria’s foreign reserves rising by 1.25 per cent to $43.64 billion in the last week.
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