The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced a new date for the 299th meeting of its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), shifting it from the initially scheduled February 17 and 18, 2025, to February 19 and 20, 2025.
In a statement on Monday, the apex bank noted that its decision puts to rest speculations surrounding the meeting date, which had emerged due to delays by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in releasing the rebased Consumer Price Index (CPI).
The statement read, “The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced that the 299th meeting of its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) earlier scheduled for February 17 and 18, 2025, will now be held on Wednesday, February 19 and Thursday, February 20, 2025.”
It noted that with a confirmed date now set, economic analysts and financial market stakeholders are turning their attention to the CBN’s next move on the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR).
Given the current economic trends, the key question remains whether the committee will maintain the rate or opt for a hike to curb inflationary pressures.
The MPC meeting remains a critical event for Nigeria’s economic outlook, influencing decisions on interest rates, inflation control, and broader macroeconomic stability.
What you should know
Nairametrics earlier reported that the CBN postponed its first MPC meeting for 2025, following delays in the release of the rebased CPI report by the NBS.
- Sources within the apex bank told Nairametrics exclusively 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.
- 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 three days before the newly scheduled MPC meeting.
