(Ecofin Agency) - Since emerging from the recession in 2020, Nigeria's economy has maintained a positive growth trajectory for nine consecutive quarters, according to the Central Bank. To support this consistency, the monetary policy committee decided to raise its policy interest rate.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has raised its policy rate by 50 basis points to 18 percent from 17.5 percent in January 2023 to curb inflation. The information comes from a statement issued by the banking institution on Tuesday 21 March.

The decision comes against a background of almost stable headline inflation (21%)  since December 2022. Similarly, food inflation has shown a near-stable trend with a rate of 24.35% in February 2023, compared to 24.32% in January 2023 while core inflation went down a bit to  18.84% in February 2023, compared to 19.16% in January 2023. However, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) remains wary of domestic and external inflationary pressures, including rising energy prices, continued pressure on exchange rates, and uncertain weather conditions.

Since emerging from the recession in 2020, West Africa's largest economy has maintained a positive growth trajectory for nine consecutive quarters, the statement informs. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), real GDP growth rose by 3.10 percent in 2022. This performance is largely due to sustained growth in the services and agriculture sectors.

For 2023, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects 3% growth for Nigeria, with annual inflation falling to 17.3%.