ABUJA, July 26 – Nigeria’s central bank raised its benchmark interest rate by a bigger-than-expected 75 basis points to 8.75 percent on Tuesday, the fourth increase this year in a continued fight against inflation.
Headline inflation fell to 10.2 percent year-on-year in June from 12.4 percent in May, approaching the central bank’s notional single-digit target but Nigeria’s inflation figures are volatile and liquidity flows remain high.
Central bank Governor Lamido Sanusi said sub-Saharan Africa’s second-largest economy grew 6.64 percent in the first quarter of this year from a year earlier and the central bank maintained its forecast for full-year 2011 growth of 7.8 percent.
Source: Reuters Africa newsletter
Did you find this information helpful? If you did, consider donating.