Businesses and households have clearly identified high interest rates, multiple taxes, and poor infrastructure as the top three constraints impacting operations in September 2025, even as they collectively expressed optimism about the macroeconomy in the coming months.

In its Business Expectation Survey, the Central Bank of Nigeria reported the robust confidence level, stating: “The Confidence Index stood at 31.5 index points in the current month(September, 2025), reflecting the optimism of respondents regarding the macroeconomy. This optimism is projected to persist over the next six months, peaking at 51.8 index points.”

Despite this positive outlook, the constraints were clearly financial and operational, as the CBN noted: “Respondents identified high bank charges (70.8), high/multiple taxes (70.8) and poor infrastructure (70.7) as the top three (3) business constraints in September 2025, highlighting factors that directly impact on operational stability and profitability.”

The report further indicated the relative insignificance of other factors, adding: “At the bottom of the top ten constraints were Insufficient Power Supply (37.8) and Competition (40.4). This suggested that business constraints were more focused on financial factors than political challenges in the review period.”

Meanwhile, Nigerian households have projected that prices will continue to increase in the coming months, though their overall sentiment regarding the macroeconomy shows an improvement, standing at -6.4 index points in September, up from -7.2 index points in August, which indicates a reduction in pessimism.

In the CBN’s Households Expectations Survey Report for September 2025, the bank stated: “Consumer sentiments on price changes stood at -6.4 index points in September 2025, indicating that respondent perceived prices were still high.”

The survey results confirm enduring inflationary fears, as “Respondents also expect prices to increase next month, next three months and six months relative to current month.”

The report highlighted improvements in overall economic perception, noting that “The overall consumer sentiment in September 2025 stood at -6.4 index points, an improvement from the -7.2 index points recorded in August 2025.”

The reduced gloom was also reflected in other indices: “The Economic Condition index improved from -4.3 index points recorded in August 2025 to -2.9 index points in September 2025, indicating reduced pessimism about the broader economy.”

Furthermore, family financial sentiment showed a slight easing of pessimism: “Family Financial Situation Index stood at -16.5 points in September 2025, an improvement from -17.0 in August 2025, indicating a slight easing of pessimism among respondents regarding their household finances.” Significantly, family income sentiment recorded 0.1 index points in September 2025, indicating optimism for the first time since April 2025.

In a similar vein to the household price expectations, the CBN’s Inflation Expectation Survey Report for September 2025 found a noticeable difference in the perception of high inflation between rural and urban residents.

According to the report, a higher percentage of residents in rural areas perceive the inflation rate as high compared to their urban counterparts.

The CBN report specified the difference, stating: “Rural respondents (73.9 percent) indicated a higher perception of high inflation than their urban counterparts (72.4 percent).”