Policymakers at Nigeria’s central bank are set to keep the key interest rate on hold for a second straight meeting to get a better grasp of the inflation trajectory.

All seven economists in a Bloomberg survey expect Governor Olayemi Cardoso to retain the rate at 27.5% when he delivers the monetary policy committee’s decision after 2 pm at a press briefing in Abuja, the capital.

“The slightly uneven inflation trend observed after the January rebasing exercise may temper the MPC’s appetite for imminent rate cuts,” said Rand Merchant Bank’s Samantha Singh-Jami.

The consumer price index was overhauled for the first time in 16 years in January and the reference year changed to 2024.

Despite the revamp, inflation remains stubbornly high, slowing to an annual 23.7% in April. A slump in the price of oil, Nigeria’s main export, and a 4% drop in the naira against the dollar since April — when the US imposed a 10% tariff on trading partners that roiled global markets — have clouded the price path further.

Africa’s largest oil producer will also likely hold on signs that the economy performed well in the first quarter, said Brendon Verster, an economist at Oxford Economics. “Monetary authorities may not be too concerned about potential growth weakness, leaving the apex bank to focus on stunting price pressures,” he said.

Bola Tinubu, who marks his second year in office on May 29, has set an ambitious 15% inflation target by year end.

Cardoso has been mute about the direction policymakers will take. At a function on May 12, he reiterated that the bank will continue its course of “orthodox policy that will see inflation moderate.”