Policy monitor: Central Bank of Nigeria holds at 26.5% with inflation at 15.91%

The Central Bank of Nigeria's benchmark policy rate stands at 26.5%, unchanged at its most recent review. This briefing sets out the data behind the stance, drawn from CBAN's Nigeria dataset.

Headline consumer price inflation is running at 15.91% year on year in the latest reading tracked by CBAN, down from 15.93% in the prior reading. That puts the real policy rate — the benchmark rate minus headline inflation — at roughly 10.6 percentage points, a restrictive setting by historical standards.

On the currency side, the Nigerian naira trades near 1,495 per US dollar, up 2.1% since the start of the year. Gross official reserves stand at roughly $38.4 billion. Exchange-rate pass-through into consumer prices is one of the strongest inflation channels in most African economies, which is why these two indicators move together in policy deliberations.

The CBN's statutory mandate: Price and monetary stability, a sound financial system, and issuance of legal tender currency in Nigeria.

The wider economy is growing at around 3.1% a year on the estimates CBAN tracks, with nominal output of about $472 billion. Growth, inflation and the exchange rate form the three-way trade-off every Monetary Policy Committee weighs.

The next scheduled monetary policy decision is 21 September 2026. CBAN tracks every African MPC date in the economic calendar, and this briefing is refreshed as new official data is released.