The Central Bank of Nigeria’s Monetary Policy Committee has held the benchmark interest rate at 26.5 per cent following a marginal rise in the country’s inflation rate to 15.69 per cent in April 2026.
The Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria has retained the benchmark interest rate at 26.5 per cent following its 305th meeting in Abuja on Wednesday.
CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso announced the decision, saying, “The Committee’s decision is as follows: retain the monetary policy rate at 26.5 per cent.”
The hold follows a 50-basis-point cut announced in February 2026 and a previous hold at the MPC briefing in November 2025.
The decision comes against the backdrop of rising inflation, with Nigeria’s headline inflation climbing marginally to 15.69 per cent in April 2026 from 15.38 per cent in March 2026, representing a 0.31 percentage point increase, according to the National Bureau of Statistics’ most recent Consumer Price Index report.
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