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CBN pledges to maintain rate hike to tame soaring inflation

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said members of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) would do whatever it takes to tame the country’s rising inflation.

Mr Olayemi Cardoso, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, said this in an interview with the Financial Times.

Mr Cardoso said that there was “every indication” that the MPC would “do whatever is necessary” to contain the soaring inflation.

He stated, “They will continue to do what has to be done to ensure that inflation comes down.”.

Mr. Cardoso said he hoped that high rates would not last too long and would not discourage investment and production, despite the current CBN’s hawkish stance.

He stated, “Hiking interest rates obviously has had a dampening effect on the foreign exchange market, so that has begun to moderate. It’s not a zero-sum game. You lose on one side, you get on the other.”.

Speaking on the naira’s fluctuations in recent times, Mr Cardoso said that investors who were likely to exit the economy in response to currency fluctuations were now more comfortable with the market, noting that the apex bank was going to return to orthodox monetary policies.

“Let’s face it, for a long period, the CBN did not embrace orthodox monetary policies. We want to go back to using an orthodox method, and it will take us to where we want to go,” Mr. Cardoso said.

The CBN’s hawkish stance on inflation became obvious at the first MPC meeting held in February when the committee raised the benchmark lending rate by 400 basis points to 22.75 per cent from 18.75 per cent and reviewed it upward to 24.75 per cent in March.

The next MPC meeting is scheduled to take place on May 20–21, 2024.

As inflationary pressures persist, financial analysts have projected that the MPC will further hike rates.

Meanwhile, analysts at Meristem Securities projected an uptick in headline inflation for April to 34.43 per cent year-on-year (vs. 33.20 per cent YoY reported in March 2024).

CAPE Economic Research and Consulting said that despite aggressive tightening measures by the monetary authority in recent months, Nigeria’s inflationary pressure continues unabated.

“Inflation is expected to further heighten in April 2024. Our forecast showed that inflationary pressure would heighten as headline, food, and core inflation were expected to rise to 33.69, 40.51, and 26.54 per cent, respectively.

“The key drivers of the headline inflation forecast remained food prices, the exchange rate, housing, and utility prices, which contribute 4.70 per cent, 0.38 per cent, and 0.31 per cent, respectively,” CAPE Economic Research and Consulting stated.

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