The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced today that it has increased the interest rate on deposits of commercial banks in its Standing Deposit Facility (SDF) to 26.5 percent, effective immediately.
This represents a 0.75 percentage point increase from the previous rate of 25.75 percent set in August.
CBN disclosed this change in a circular signed by Dr. Omolara Duke, Director of the Financial Operations Department. The decision to raise the interest rate on banks’ SDF deposits was reached at the 298th meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). The Committee opted to retain the Asymmetric Corridor at +500/-100 basis points around the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) and removed the second tier of the SDF, which was 19 percent on deposits above 3 billion naira.
Under the new policy, all SDF deposits will now be remunerated at a single tier rate, calculated as the MPR minus 100 basis points. Consequently, the prevailing SDF rate is now 26.5 percent.
The circular issued by CBN supersedes an earlier circular (Ref: FMD/DIR/PUB/CIR/001/017, dated August 26, 2024) on the operationalization of the SDF Symmetric Corridor. All authorized dealers are required to take note of this new development, which takes effect immediately.