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Central BanksMedium•23 October 2026•
3 min read

Central Bank of Nigeria Holds Policy Rate at 23% After Cutting It From 26.5%

Key Facts

1The Monetary Policy Committee held the policy rate at 23% at its 21 and 22 September 2026 meeting.
2The average secondary-market treasury-bill yield fell 98 basis points, to 17.48% on 6 October from 18.46% on 23 September.
3Stop rates at the 6 October auction fell 2 basis points for each tenor, to 17.22% for 147-day bills and 16.92% for 182-day bills.
4Annual inflation fell to 14.63% in September from 15.39% in August, while food inflation was 19.59% compared with 19.57%.

Nigeria’s Monetary Policy Committee held the policy rate at 23% at its meeting on 21 and 22 September 2026, after it stood at 26.5% in the July decision, according to Central Bank of Nigeria data. The decision puts September’s 350-basis-point cut in the context of monetary policy, rather than treating movements in open-market bill yields as a new rate increase. The committee also reset the central bank’s standing-facility corridor to +50/-300 basis points around the policy rate. At the same time, it kept cash reserve requirements at 45% for commercial banks and 16% for specialised commercial banks. The reserve requirement on public-sector deposits outside the Treasury Single Account stood at 75%.

Earlier auction data show that open-market bill yields did not move in one direction after the September decision. At the 29 September auction, stop rates were 17.24% for 147-day bills, 16.94% for 182-day bills and 16.23% for 266-day bills, according to the central bank’s records. At the 6 October auction, stop rates for 147-day and 182-day bills each fell by 2 basis points, to 17.22% and 16.92%, respectively, according to the Financial Markets Dealers Association. These figures reflect a slight decline in the two yields between the auctions and do not, on their own, establish a change in monetary policy. The committee had set the policy rate at 23% in September.

Allocations varied across maturities at the 29 September auction, with the central bank allotting 464.4474 billion naira for 147-day bills, 1.225456975 trillion naira for 182-day bills and 2.996362264 trillion naira for 266-day bills. The allocations show that most of the amount recorded at the auction went to the longest of the three maturities listed in the data. The available information does not include documented results for a 23 October auction that would allow a comparison of its allocation volume or stop rates with those of the September auction. It is therefore not possible to confirm figures circulating about sales at that auction or describe them as having exceeded an initial offer. Nor can it be established that stop rates rose across its maturities.

In the secondary market, the average yield on treasury bills fell to 17.48% on 6 October from 18.46% on 23 September, a decline of 98 basis points, according to the Financial Markets Dealers Association. The drop came alongside the limited decline in stop rates at the 6 October auction. The association said the subsequent direction of yields would depend on banking-system liquidity, the pace of open-market bill issuance and signals from the next Monetary Policy Committee meeting. This assessment identifies liquidity, issuance and committee signals as factors shaping yield movements. Nigeria’s annual inflation stood at 14.63% in September, down from 15.39% in August, while food inflation barely moved, to 19.59% from 19.57%, according to Reuters. These figures provide context for monetary developments, without sources attributing a specific objective of supporting the naira or lowering inflation to the bill auctions.