In accordance with a recent monetary policy change by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), 19 deposit money banks are now providing their clients with an interest rate of 8.18 percent on their deposits.
Commercial banks are required to offer a minimum interest rate of 30% of the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) on consumer deposits.
To counteract growing inflation, BusinessDay reported that the CBN increased the MPR, also known as the benchmark interest rate, by 50 basis points to 27.25 per cent in September 2024. Consequently, the interest rate of 8.18 per cent is equivalent to 30 per cent of this new MPR
The CBN's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) required all Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) to make their lending rates publicly availablen an effort to promote openness and educated financial decision-making.
19 banks changed interest rates
According to the most recent data, 19 banks have changed their deposit interest rates to the required 8.18% as of November 1, 2024. The banks adhering to this rate include Access Bank, Citi Bank, Ecobank, Fidelity, First Bank of Nigeria, Keystone Bank, Optimus, Polaris, Premium Trust, Providus, and Signature Bank. Others are Standard Chartered Bank, Sterling Bank, TitanTrust, United Bank for Africa (UBA), Union Bank, Unity Bank, Wema Bank, and Zenith Bank.
Since June 2006 when the MPR stood at 0.00, the CBN has steadily increased its MPR, reaching 27.25 per cent by September 2024.
This trend was underscored during the 297th MPC meeting held on September 23–24, 2024. The CBN governor, Olayemi Cardoso, voted during the meeting to increase the MPR from 26.75 per cent to 27.25 per cent, a 50 basis point increase.
It was reported that the Nigerian banking industry pays its customers an average interest rate of 7.88% on savings in their bank accounts.
The figures, published by the Central Bank of Nigeria, varied across banks, with the Coronation Bank offering the highest rate.
