CBN Slashes Benchmark Interest Rate to 23% at MPC Meeting

The Central Bank of Nigeria’s Monetary Policy Committee has cut the benchmark interest rate by 350 basis points to 23 per cent from 26.5 per cent.CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso announced the decision on Tuesday after the committee’s 307th meeting in Abuja.

“The Committee decided as follows: reset the monetary policy rate to 23 per cent,” Cardoso said.

The reduction marks the second rate cut of 2026, following a 50-basis-point cut in February. The MPC had held the rate steady at 26.5 per cent at its two previous meetings.

The move comes amid easing inflation. Nigeria’s headline inflation rate edged down to 15.39 per cent in August 2026 from 15.43 per cent in July, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. 

The latest figure represents the third consecutive monthly decline after earlier rises.While lowering the Monetary Policy Rate, the committee retained the Cash Reserve Requirement at 45 per cent for Deposit Money Banks, 16 per cent for Merchant Banks, and 75 per cent for non-Treasury Single Account public sector deposits.

It also recalibrated the Standing Facilities Corridor to +50/-300 basis points around the new MPR. This sets the Standing Lending Facility at 23.5 per cent and the Standing Deposit Facility at 20 per cent.