Nigeria, Feb. 28 -- Economists and policy analysts have expressed concern about the recent actions taken by the Central Bank of Nigeria concerning the benchmark interest rate and other monetary policy matters in the country.

The Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria increased the benchmark interest rate to 22.75 per cent on Tuesday, as part of the move to aggressively manage the country's inflationary pressures.

Olayemi Cardoso, the governor of the CBN, on Tuesday, disclosed that the MPC voted to keep the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) at 45 per cent while the Liquidity Ratio was retained at 30 per cent.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the country's annual inflation rate jumped to 29.90 percent in January f...