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 18)
Recent Data released by the Nigeria Bureau
of Statistics reveals an increase in total public debt stock between 2015 and
2016. Foreign and domestic debt stock stood at $11.4 billion and N14.0 trillion
respectively as at December 2016, from $10.7 billion and N10.5
trillionrecorded as at December 2015. Disaggregated
data shows that foreign debt sources comprised Multilateral ($8.0 billion),
Bilateral ($0.2 billion) and Exim bank of China ($3.2 billion); domestic
sources included government bonds, treasury bills and bonds. The federal
government and states accounted for 68.7% and 31.3% respectively of foreign
debt stock; 78.9% and 21.1% respectively of domestic debt stock. This maybe
particularly at the backdrop of government borrowings in 2016 to finance its
expenditure (mostly recurrent).