KEY POINTS

• Until Q1 2025, naira will continue to depreciate according to CBN.
• Agriculture sector tops December 2024 employment growth projections.
• Consumers are expecting rent, transportation and medical bill costs to go up.

The Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) Business Expectation Survey for November 2024 has reported that Nigerian businesses projected further depreciation of the naira for December 2024 and the first quarter of 2025.

According to the report, though firms retain an optimistic outlook on the macroeconomic outlook, they foresee the naira to continue to depreciate in the short term. But the currency is expected to appreciate within six months.

Positive sentiment from respondents across the various sectors, with construction particularly optimistic over its operations for the review month drove the optimism.

December business activities and hiring projections

Businesses, however, expect depreciation in the naira, as their outlook on other key areas including the volume of activities, access to credit and financial conditions was largely pessimistic. The current outlook on November 2024 for those areas, however, still remained negative.

But businesses still expect an increase in the volume of transactions for December 2024. Firms say they will employ more people this festive season, especially in the agriculture sector.

The CBN’s Consumer Expectation Survey for November 2024 showed rising consumer doom on the economy meanwhile. Respondents indicated an expected future rise in prices for items such as transportation, rent, car purchases and medical expenses in December.

Of note, as many as 61.1 percent and 57.6 percent of respondents believe that prices of non durable and durable household items are high, but they believe that the prices will go down this month and next.