Commercial banks’ prime lending rate to the most creditworthy consumers climbed to 13.67% in 2023, a 1.99% Year-on-Year (YoY) rise from 11.68% in January 2022, amid significant macroeconomic headwinds and an increase in the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR).
The number was 24-month high, according to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) “Money Market Indicators,” and it followed the CBN’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) raising its MPR rate to 17.5 percent.
Experts have linked the rise in MPR and the severe macroeconomic conditions to the rise in lending.”
He said, “It is a contractionary monetary policy for the CBN to increase MPR.
In turn, Mr. David, vice president of Highcap Securities Ltd. Mr. David Adnori said the gap between the CBN’s lending rate and the maximum lending calls for concern in the banking industry. “Speaking, the President, Bank Customers Association of Nigeria (BCAN), Dr. Uju Ogubunka attributed the increase in average maximum lending rate to uncertainty surrounding and inflation rate in the business environment amid political tension.