CBN Report: Businesses Struggle Under Rising Costs Yet Remain Hopeful For 2025

CBN Report: Businesses Struggle Under Rising Costs Yet Remain Hopeful For 2025

A survey by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has revealed that high bank charges, poor infrastructure, an unfavorable economic climate, insecurity, and limited access to credit were the biggest challenges businesses faced in December 2024…READ MORE…

However, the report, titled “Business Expectation Survey (BES),” also highlighted that firms remained optimistic about the overall macroeconomic environment.

According to the survey, this optimism may be linked to businesses’ positive outlook on the exchange rate, business activity levels, and total order volume.

The report stated: “Respondents identified high bank charges, poor infrastructure, an unfavorable economic climate, insecurity, and credit access as the major business constraints in December 2024.”

It further noted that:

Businesses maintained a positive outlook on the overall macroeconomy, with confidence driven by expectations of a stable exchange rate, increased business activities, and higher order volumes.
The confidence index (CI) for the macroeconomy showed that businesses remained optimistic in December 2024.
The positive outlook was observed across all sectors, with respondents expecting improved business activity in the coming months.
Firms anticipated a stronger naira in the review period.
In line with these expectations, businesses planned to hire more workers in January 2025.

Additionally, sectoral analysis indicated that the agricultural sector had the highest potential for expansion in January.

Meanwhile, the CBN’s “Inflation Expectation Survey Report,” also released yesterday, showed that 83.9% of small businesses perceived inflation to be high in December 2024.

The report further revealed that households earning between ₦150,001 and ₦200,000 per month were more likely to perceive inflation as high. Respondents, both businesses and households, attributed their inflation concerns to rising energy costs, exchange rate fluctuations, transportation expenses, and insecurity.

However, they expressed expectations that inflation levels would gradually ease in the coming months.

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