The Central Bank of Nigeria has delivered its largest interest rate cut on record, reducing the benchmark rate by 350 basis points to 23 per cent.
CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso announced the decision on Tuesday following the two-day Monetary Policy Committee meeting in Abuja.
Cardoso said MPC members opted to calibrate the standing facility around the MPR at +50/-300 basis points.
Inflation Eases for Third Straight Month
The rate cut comes as Nigeria’s headline inflation rate cooled for the third consecutive month, dipping to 15.39 per cent in August 2026 from 15.43 per cent in July, per the National Bureau of Statistics.
Still, analysts polled by BusinessDay ahead of the MPC meeting had argued that the moderation wasn’t yet strong enough to justify monetary easing. They pointed to renewed pressure from higher global oil prices, energy and transportation costs, and the risk that pre-election spending could stoke inflation.
