The Central Bank of Nigeria has postponed its first Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting for 2025 to March, following delays in the release of the rebased Consumer Price Index (CPI) report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
Sources within the apex bank told Nairametrics on Saturday that policymakers are reconsidering the February 17–18 meeting date due to the unavailability of updated inflation data.
The first MPC meeting for 2025 was initially set for January 27–28 but was moved to February, reportedly to allow time for the rebased inflation and GDP figures to be released.
However, with the continued delay, the CBN is now considering shifting the meeting to March to ensure that the committee has the most up-to-date economic data before making policy decisions.
Delay in rebased CPI
Last month, the NBS said that the details of the newly rebased Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and CPI would be launched at the end of the month.
- It would be recalled that the NBS in October 2024 announced plans to rebase the GDP and CPI to reflect current realities and capture structural changes in the economy.
- The rebasing of Nigeria’s CPI is expected to provide a more accurate reflection of inflation trends by incorporating changes in consumer spending patterns. The last rebasing was conducted in 2009, and since then, economic shifts—including increased spending on telecommunications and services—have not been fully captured in inflation measurements.
- In addition to rebasing the CPI with the price reference period moved to 2024, the NBS also plans to introduce three new.
- The rebased CPI, which was expected at the end of January, has yet to be published by the NBS, raising concerns about the timing of key economic indicators ahead of the MPC meeting.
The NBS typically releases its CPI report on the 15th of every month. If the agency maintains this tradition, the inflation report could be published just two days before the previously scheduled MPC meeting, leaving little room for policymakers to analyze the data before making key decisions.
Monetary policy decisions rely heavily on inflation trends, and with the rebased CPI still pending, the CBN may opt to postpone the meeting rather than proceed without updated figures.
An official confirmation from the CBN is still awaited, but sources indicate that unless the NBS releases the data soon, the next MPC meeting is likely to be pushed to March.
What you should know
- This would not be the first time the CBN was postponing its MPC meeting under the leadership of Olayemi Cardoso, the apex bank governor.
- After he was newly appointed in September 2023, the CBN postponed a meeting of its MPC again as investors and analysts look forward to the move by the new Governor Olayemi Cardoso in tackling surging inflation.
- The CBN held its first MPC meeting of 2024 on February 26th and 27th, which was also the first under Cardoso’s leadership.
