LAGOS – Nigerian formal businesses maintained a positive outlook in June 2026, with the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Business Confidence Index reaching 7.2 points despite persistent macroeconomic hurdles.
The apex bank’s latest Business Expectations Survey revealed that corporate optimism climbs higher over longer horizons, hitting 17.6 points for next month and 30.9 points for the next six months.
However, deep regional disparities emerged. While northern regions recorded highly positive sentiments, the South-East and South-South zones fell into negative territory at -9.0 and -7.9 points, respectively.
Sectoral data showed agriculture rising to 12.2 index points. Conversely, the industry and services sectors moderated, though mining and quarrying recorded the highest individual operations confidence at 42.9 points.
Corporate operators identified multiple taxation at 73.7%, insecurity at 71.7%, and high interest rates at 67.0% as the most crushing bottlenecks limiting their operational expansion.
Economic diversification and expansionary fiscal policy drove the positive sentiments. Meanwhile, business leaders anticipated a gradual appreciation of the Naira against the US dollar over the coming months.
To counter these structural headwinds and anchor market confidence, the CBN has aggressively pursued currency stabilization by clearing a multi-billion-dollar foreign exchange backlog.
Furthermore, the Olayemi Cardoso-led team instituted rigorous bank recapitalization mandates, deployed news-based indices for policy transparency, and utilized advanced data frameworks to track systemic economic risks.
