According to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) Business Expectation Survey carried out in July, the business outlook rose by 16.4 index points month on month. However, the overall Confidence Index for July 2020 remained pessimistic/negative at -7.9 index points considering that the Index in the preceding month was -24.3 points2. The sectors surveyed were agriculture, manufacturing, and the construction sectors with a more disaggregated data showing that businesses that are neither import nor export-oriented were the most pessimist in the review period. In a more forward-looking survey, respondents had a more optimistic outlook for the month of August (33.7 index points). Understandably, as society transitions back to normal, business activities are expected to improve. While the business community will no doubt be adversely affected by the pandemic, the several interventions put in place by the government should be leveraged on to support businesses.
August 17, 2020
Nigeria Economic Update (Issue 31)
Related
Nigeria Economic Update (Issue 14)
The
considerable increase in inflation continued to be driven by
exchange-rate-pass-through from imported items as well as the lingering
scarcity in the availability of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS). One of the key ways
to reduce inflationary pressures in the near term is to improve the supply of
PMS to filling stations. In the medium to long term, the Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) may need to revitalize local refining and bridge
the gap between the supply and demand for PMS by households and businesses.