Nigeria, July 14 -- As the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)'s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) prepares to meet, economists are divided over the plausible decision of the committee on benchmark interest rate.

At the end of its 305th MPC meeting held from 19 to 20 May in Abuja, the MPC retained the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), its benchmark interest rate, at 26.5 per cent.

The decision followed a 50-basis-point reduction in February, when the committee lowered the MPR from 27 per cent to 26.5 per cent after keeping the rate unchanged at 27 per cent since November 2025.

Explaining the May decision, CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso said the committee opted to hold the benchmark rate because of a recent uptick in inflation and external shocks.

"Th...