Nigeria’s Central Bank postpones rate-setting meeting again as inflation soars 

Nigeria’s Central Bank has postponed a crucial meeting to decide interest rates even as headline inflation worsened in the West African country in October. Data from the country’s Bureau of Statistics showed that headline inflation hit an 18-year high of 27% in October.

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting was scheduled for Monday and Tuesday but has now been moved to an unspecified date. The postponement comes as a surprise to many analysts because September’s rates meeting was also postponed without any reason. At the time, the CBN promised to communicate new dates in “due time.”

This week’s meeting would have been the first rates meeting under the new CBN governor, Olayemi Cardoso, whose appointment was approved by the Senate in September. Under the acting CBN governor, Folashodun Shonubi, the bank raised interest rates twice, but Olayemi Cardoso looks to be deferring that decision.

A financial markets analyst who spoke to TechCabal on the condition of anonymity criticised the bank’s decision to suspend today’s meeting, citing “poor communication” as a persistent challenge to the country’s efforts to attract foreign investors.

The CBN did not share a date for when the next MPC meeting will be held.