DAKAR (Reuters) – West Africa’s Central Bank, BCEAO, will raise its main lending rate by 25 basis points to 3.00% from March 16 to bring inflation within its target range, it said on Wednesday.
The bank said in a statement that inflation decreased to 6% in January from 7% in December but the rate hike should help to bring it within target of 1% to 3% in the medium term.
The Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) covers the eight-nation CFA franc currency comprising Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo
(Reporting by Diadie Ba; Writing by Anait Miridzhanian; Editing by James Macharia Chege)