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 42)
The
NSE market indices recorded a bear market rally for the third consecutive week
in September. Specifically, All-share index and Market Capitalization increased
marginally by 0.31 percent to close at 28,335.40 points and N9.73 trillion
respectively on September 30, 2016. Major drivers of the rally include;
increased trade-volume of financial, agricultural and consumer-goods
securities. The continued rise in market indices may be connected to a
sustained investor confidence in the agricultural and financial sectors on the
account of the ongoing activities of the government and the CBN to stabilize
the sectors.