Raising interest rate to 24.75% attracted $1.5b into Nigeria economy in one week – CBN

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has disclosed that Nigerian economy saw $1.5 billion inflow within a week after it raised the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) by 200 basis points to 24.75 percent on Tuesday.

Mrs. Hakama Sidi Ali, CBN’s Acting Director of Corporate Communications who disclosed this in Abuja on Friday, said the development was an indication that CBN monetary policy efforts were working positively.

She noted that data available to the Bank indicated that the inflows resulted from the Bank’s concerted effort to stabilise the foreign exchange market.

She said the Naira has also continued to record gains in the Autonomous Foreign Exchange market as it traded at N1,309/$1 as against N1,611/$1 in the second week of March 2024.

Noting that Thursday’s rate signified that the Naira was headed in the right direction, Sidi Ali assured that the Cardoso-led CBN would remain committed to ensuring the stability of the market and the appropriate pricing of the Naira against other major currencies worldwide.

The CBN’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) had announced a two-percent increase in its benchmark rate from 22.75% to 24.75% on Tuesday.

During his post-meeting briefing, the Governor, Mr. Olayemi Cardoso, also reiterated that the CBN had cleared all verified foreign exchange backlog, underscoring the fact that liquidity would improve in the foreign exchange market.

Meanwhile, CBN conducted the Nigerian Treasury Bills (NTBs) auction of N1.64 trillion on Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at stop rates of 16.24%, 17%, and 21.124% for the 91-day, 182-day, and 364-day tenors, respectively.