LAGOS— The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) has backed the Central Bank of Nigeria’s decision to maintain the benchmark interest rate at 26.5% during its 305th Monetary Policy Committee meeting on Wednesday.
The policy think tank stated that keeping the Monetary Policy Rate unchanged protects domestic businesses from prohibitive borrowing costs. It also safeguards the ongoing recovery across the country’s industrial and manufacturing sectors.
Alongside the benchmark interest rate, the Central Bank retained the Cash Reserve Ratio at 45% for commercial banks. Merchant banks saw their reserve ratio held steady at 16%.
The apex bank’s decision comes as Nigeria’s headline inflation rose marginally to 15.69% in April 2026. This represents a 0.31 percentage point increase from 15.38% recorded in March.
“Excessive tightening at this stage could suffocate productivity, weaken industrial recovery, constrain investment appetite and undermine employment generation,” said Dr. Muda Yusuf, Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise.
The Central Bank noted that recent inflation upticks are driven by external shocks rather than domestic demand. Global logistics disruptions and energy price spikes tied to the Middle East crisis caused these pressures.
A resilient macroeconomic buffer supported the decision to hold parameters steady. Nigeria’s gross external reserves grew to $49.49 billion as of May 15, 2026, providing over nine months of import cover.
The policy continuity provides predictable operating conditions for the real sector. It allows businesses to plan effectively while the lagged effects of prior monetary adjustments filter through the financial system.
