The Central Bank of Nigeria has reduced its benchmark monetary policy rate from 26.5% to 23%, according to Nigerian news organizations reporting from the Monetary Policy Committee's 307th meeting.

Channels Television and TheCable reported that the committee set the standing-facility corridor at 50 basis points above and 300 basis points below the policy rate. The cash-reserve ratio was retained at 45% for deposit-money banks, 16% for merchant banks and 75% for non-TSA public-sector deposits.

The reduction marks a significant reset after a prolonged period of tight monetary policy. The reports quoted central-bank governor Olayemi Cardoso as saying the change was intended to restore the policy rate as the system's main monetary signal. Genuine Update did not locate a current central-bank communiqué independently confirming the figures at publication time, so the decision is attributed to the outlets that reported directly from the meeting.

Sources: Channels Television — channelstv.com source ↗ TheCable — thecable.ng source ↗