The Central Bank of Nigeria's logo is seen on its headquarters building in Abuja, Nigeria, January 22, 2018. REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde/File Photo
ABUJA, July 25 - Nigeria's central bank raised its main lending rate by a smaller-than-expected 25 basis points on Tuesday, saying it preferred a moderate increase to anchor inflation expectations while continuing to support investment.seen in years, new President Bola Tinubu has ended a decades-old petrol subsidy that has seen prices triple and ended restrictions on foreign exchange, which has weakened the naira more than 40%, feeding into inflation.
The reforms have been mostly welcomed by investors, but analysts would have preferred more aggressive central bank action to counter price increases. Tuesday's decision to raise the bank's Monetary Policy Rate to 18.75% is the first since Tinubu suspended central bank governor Godwin Emefiele in June., had used a much-criticised system of multiple exchange rates to keep the country's naira currency artificially strong and lent directly to businesses to try to boost growth.