Nigerian businesses anticipate further depreciation of the naira through early 2025, despite maintaining overall optimism about the macroeconomic environment, according to the Central Bank of Nigeria's November 2024 Business Expectation Survey.

While businesses expect the naira to weaken over the next three months, they project a potential recovery in the six-month outlook. This sentiment spans across all business sectors, with the construction sector showing particular optimism about its operations.

However, the survey revealed mixed economic indicators. Businesses expressed pessimism regarding several key metrics, including business activity volume, financial conditions, credit accessibility, and order volumes. Despite these concerns, companies, particularly in the agriculture sector, plan to increase hiring in December 2024.

In a separate Consumer Expectation Survey, the CBN reported that households remain pessimistic about the broader economy. Consumers anticipate rising costs in transportation, rent, vehicles, housing, and medical expenses. However, most respondents (61.1% and 57.6% respectively) believe that prices of household items, while still high, will gradually decrease over the next two months.