The Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria voted Tuesday to increase the benchmark interest rate by 100 basis points to 16.5 per cent, the highest since 2001.

The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, disclosed this while reading the communique of the last MPC meeting of the year on Tuesday, November 22, 2022.

The MPC said the tightening would curb a higher rate of inflation and restore investors’ confidence.

The apex bank had increased the MPR from 11.5 per cent earlier this year to 15.5 per cent across three consecutive rate hikes.

Nigeria’s inflation rate rose to 21.09 per cent in October 2022 from 20.77 per cent in the previous month.