Yemi Obafemi
A survey report by the Central Bank of Nigeria has revealed that firms identified high bank charges, inadequate infrastructure, an unfavorable economic climate, insecurity, and limited access to credit as the major business constraints in December 2024.
This was disclosed in a report titled “Business Expectation Survey, BES”.
However, the report stated that firms expressed optimism about the overall macroeconomy, which is likely driven by a positive outlook on the exchange rate, business activity levels, and total order volume.
It stated: “Respondents mentioned high bank charges, poor infrastructure, unfavorable economic climate, insecurity and access to credit as top business constraints for December 2024.
“Respondent firms were optimistic about the overall macroeconomy. The optimism may be attributed to the positive outlook on Exchange rate, volume of business activities, and volume of total order.
“The overall confidence index (CI) on the macroeconomy indicated that businesses were optimistic in December 2024.
“The optimism on business outlook in the current month is driven by the opinion of respondents from all the sectors.
“Respondents expressed optimism on volume of business activity for the next month and subsequent periods under review.
“Respondents firm expects the naira to appreciate in the review months. “In line with the favourable expectations businesses hope to employ more workers in the month of January 2025.
“An analysis of sectors showed that agriculture had the highest prospect for expansion in January.”
