The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says the lifting of petroleum products from Lagos-based Dangote Refinery will moderate the cost of transportation and ease food inflation.
CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso stated this at a press briefing on Tuesday at the end of the 297th meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) in Abuja.
“The committee expressed optimism that the lifting of refined petroleum products from Dangote Refinery will moderate transportation costs and significantly support the easing of food price pressures in the short to medium term.
“This is also expected to moderate foreign exchange demands for importation of refined petroleum products with a positive spillover on external reserve and improvement in the overall balance of payment position,” Cardoso said.
The CBN chief also announced the committee’s decision to further raise the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) which measures interest rates by 50 basis points from 26.75% to 27.25% to moderate inflation rate which stands at 32.15%.
According to the Consumer Price Index report recently released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the headline inflation rate eased to 32.15% in August 2024, while food inflation stood at 37.52% in the same month.
