CBN Retains Interest Rate At 26.5%, Raises Concerns Over Heightened ‘Global Uncertainties’

The Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has opted to keep the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), which is the country’s benchmark interest rate, unchanged at 26.5 per cent.

It reached the decision following the MPC meeting held in Abuja on Tuesday. The CBN governor, Olayemi Cardoso, who announced it, said that while domestic economic indicators show resilience following past structural reforms, heightened global geopolitical uncertainties, particularly in the Middle East, continue to pose risks to energy prices and domestic inflation.

“The Committee decided as follows: retain the monetary policy rate at 26.5 per cent,” Cardoso said at the end of the 306th meeting of the MPC, held in Abuja on July 20 and 21, 2026.

At the end of the 306th meeting of the MPC, which lasted from July 20 to 21, 2026, all members of the committee reviewed the recent domestic and global economic realities before leaving the lending rate untouched.

The committee also decided to retain the ⁠Standing Facilities Corridor around the MPR at +50 / -450 basis points.

It also retained the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) for Deposit Money Banks at 45% and 16% for merchant banks and 75% for non-TSA public sector deposits.

“The committee’s decision to maintain the current policy stand follows a thorough assessment of the balance of risk. Although headline inflation moderated marginally in June 2026, global uncertainties have heightened due mainly to the renewed hostilities in the Middle East,” he said.

Cardoso said despite the global uncertainties, the Nigerian economy has “remained largely resilient to the external shocks”.

It is the second time the CBN MPC has left the interest rate unchanged this year.

The move came days after the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced that the country’s headline inflation dropped to 15.91 per cent in June 2026, a slight adjustment from 15.93 per cent recorded in the previous month.

It is the first time in three months that Nigeria’s headline inflation rate has dropped.

According to the NBS Consumer Price Index (CPI) report, the June 2026 inflation rate decreased by 0.02 percentage points when compared to the rate in May.