SUN JULY 20 2025-theGBJournal| Business Confidence Index stood at 20.7 index points June 2025, reflecting the optimism of respondents regarding the Macroeconomy, according to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) latest Business Expectations Survey report.
The survey reveals that this optimistic trend is projected to persist over the next six months, steadying at 41.3 index points.
Across all time frames, the positive trajectory of the Confidence Index (CI), a measure of overall business sentiment, reflects a broad-based optimism among respondent firms regarding the macroeconomic outlook.
This sentiment, according to the survey, is mostly driven by favourable expectations on the volume of business activity across the review periods.
The survey shows that all the sectors expressed optimism on the business outlook of the macroeconomy in the month under review, with the Industry sector leading at 23.1 index points.
The optimistic trend is expected to continue into the next six months with the confidence index of the Industry and Agriculture sectors more than doubling in the
next six months, 48.3 and 42.8 index points, respectively.
The Services sector also recorded improved levels of optimism across different time periods.
The positive outlook on the macroeconomy in the current month is influenced by the views of respondents from all regions, the CBN said.
This optimism was highest in the North- East region at 37.1 index points and lowest in the South- East region at 4.4 index points.
The low level of optimism in the South-East could be attributed mainly to the sentiments surrounding high interest rates.
Businesses equally expressed strong optimism in own operations with the Construction sector leading with 15.4 index points.
The outlook of respondents on Volume of Business Activity, Volume of Total Order, and the Financial Condition Index were positive in the review month.
In line with the expected business expansion, businesses anticipate hiring more workers in July 2025.
Analysis of the Sectors showed that the Construction sector had the highest prospect for employment (25.0) while the Mining & Quarrying sector had the highest prospect for expansion in July 2025 (73.3).
However, respondents identified High interest rate (75.6), Insecurity (75.2) and Insufficient power supply (74.3) as the top three business constraints in June 2025, highlighting concerns around factors that directly impact operational stability and profitability.
At the bottom of the top ten were unfavourable political climate (62.5) and poor infrastructure (62.4).
This, according to the survey, suggests that business constraints are more focused on economic and financial risks than political challenges in the review period.
Meanwhile, respondents expect the Naira to US Dollar exchange rate to appreciate across the review periods, as indicated by a positive index. They also anticipated an increase in the borrowing rate during the same periods.
Average capacity utilization across the sectors stood at 58.2% in June 2025, a slight decrease from 58.7% recorded in May 2025. This suggests a slight dip in resource use across surveyed firms.
The Business Expectations Survey (BES) is a monthly survey of leading firms drawn from updated Business Establishment frame of Central Bank of Nigeria and the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The BES result provides advance indication of change in the overall business activity in the economy.
The June 2025 Business Expectations Survey (BES) was conducted from June 16 to 20, 2025 with a sample size of 1,900 business enterprises across Nigeria.
The survey achieved a response rate of 98.1%, covering three key sectors: Industry, Services, and Agriculture.
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