THE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has reported that businesses, while optimistic about the macroeconomic environment, anticipate further depreciation of the naira this month and in the first quarter of 2025.
In its Business Expectation Survey Report for November 2024, the bank noted that firms’ outlook on various aspects, including business activity levels, financial conditions, access to credit, total order volumes, and average capacity utilization, was largely pessimistic.
The report stated, “The overall confidence index (CI) regarding the macroeconomy indicated that businesses were optimistic in November 2024. However, they expect the naira to depreciate this month, next month, and over the next three months, with a potential appreciation anticipated in the following six months.”
The current optimism about business prospects is reflected across all sectors, with the Construction Sector particularly confident about its operations during the review period.
Nonetheless, respondents expressed negative views regarding business activity levels, total order volumes, financial conditions, and access to credit for the review month, although they showed optimism for business activity in the coming month and subsequent periods.
The report also indicated that businesses plan to hire more workers in December 2024, with the Agriculture sector showing the greatest potential for growth.
In contrast, the CBN’s latest Consumer Expectation Survey Report revealed that consumers were pessimistic about the macroeconomy in November.
Households expect increases in the costs of transportation, rent, vehicle purchases, housing, and medical expenses this month.
The report highlighted that 61.1% and 57.6% of respondents believed that prices for non-durable and durable household items, while currently high, would continue to decline this month and next month, respectively.
