The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has lowered the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) from 27.5 percent to 27 percent, marking the first rate cut since May 2023. CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, announced the decision on Tuesday at a press briefing in Abuja after the conclusion of the two-day 302nd Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting. Cardoso explained that the cut was unanimously agreed upon by committee members following Nigeria’s consistent decline in inflation over the past five months. The MPC also made adjustments to other key monetary instruments: the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) was raised to 45 percent for Deposit Money Banks and 16 percent for Merchant Banks, while the asymmetric corridor was set at +250/-250 basis points around the MPR. The Liquidity Ratio (LR) was, however, retained at 30 percent. The move comes amid repeated calls from industrial stakeholders and manufacturers for downward easing of the MPR to reduce production costs. Nigeria’s inflation rate eased to 21.12 percent in August, marking the fifth consecutive moderation. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) also reported that the economy grew by 4.23 percent in the second quarter of 2025, an improvement over the 3.13 percent recorded in the previous quarter. Growth was seen in agriculture, services, industries, and oil sectors, while manufacturing, trade, ICT, and motor assembly contracted. Despite the cut, Nigeria’s interest rate and inflation levels remain among the highest in Africa. Ghana recently reduced its interest rate by 350 basis points to 21.5 percent, with inflation at 11.5 percent, while South Africa maintains a 7 percent rate with inflation at 3.3 percent.