The Business Survey Outlook released by the Central Bank of Nigeria shows that borrowing rate is expected to rise in February, March and the next 12 months.
The February 2020 Business Expectations Survey was conducted from February 10-14, 2020 with a sample size of 1050 businesses nationwide.
The survey achieved 97.1 per cent response rate from the participating firms, and the sample covered the services, industrial, wholesale/retail trade, and construction sectors.
According to the survey, firms expect the Naira to appreciate in February, March and next twelve months.
The surveyed firms were made up of small, medium and large corporations covering both import- and export-oriented businesses.
Firms identified insufficient power supply, financial problems, high-interest rate, unfavourable economic climate, unclear economic laws, unfavourable political climate, access to credit and competition as major factors constraining business activity.
The released report showed that at 26.6 index points, the overall confidence index (CI) indicated optimism on the overall macroeconomy in the month of February 2020.
The business outlook for March 2020 showed greater confidence in the economy, with 58.1 index points.
The optimism on the macroeconomy in the current month was driven by the opinion of the surveyed firms from services 14.7 points, industrial 8.3 points, wholesale/retail trade 2.6 points and construction 1.0 points sectors.
Similarly, the major sectors that raised optimism for March were services 31.6 points, industrial 19.5 points, wholesale/retail trade 5.4 points and construction 1.6 points sectors.
Analysis by CBN showed that export-related businesses drove the positive business outlook in February 2020.
All sectors expressed optimism on own operations in February. Services sector expressed the greatest optimism on own operations.
Surveyed firms were positive on their ability to access credit from the banks in the coming months.
The employment outlook index by sector showed that the wholesale/retail trade sector had the highest prospect for employment in March.
The analysis of businesses with expansion plans in March showed that the construction sector indicates the highest disposition to expand.
According to the survey, it is expected that the Naira would appreciate in February, March and next twelve months.
And frms expect borrowing rates to rise for the rest of the year.
Source: ICIR Nigeria
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