The Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria has retained the benchmark interest rate at 26.5 per cent for the second time.

The CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, announced the decision on Tuesday at the end of the committee’s 306th meeting in Abuja.

Cardoso said, “The Committee decided as follows: retain the monetary policy rate at 26.5 per cent.”

The move follows an earlier hold at the previous MPC briefing, and a 50-basis-point cut announced in February 2026.

PUNCH Online observed that the MPC’s decision to retain rates occurred despite a marginal decrease in Nigeria’s inflation rate.

According to the most recent Consumer Price Index report released by the National Bureau of Statistics, Nigeria’s headline inflation rate eased marginally to 15.91 per cent in June 2026 from 15.93 per cent recorded in May.

It observed that the current inflation rate marked its first decline after three consecutive monthly increases, from 15.06 per cent in February to 15.38 per cent in March, 15.69 per cent in April and 15.93 per cent in May.