75% of Nigerian businesses struggle with high interest rates in January 2025— CBN

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s Business Expectation Survey for January 2025 has said that about three-quarter of businesses that operate in Nigeria have identified high interest rates as their primary operational constraint in January 2025. The report, which assesses the economic landscape for businesses across various sectors, highlights key obstacles hampering growth and productivity in Nigeria. The survey conducted by the CBN identified six major factors that negatively impacted businesses in January 2025. They include; high interest rates which 75 per cent of businesses reported as their primary constraint. Following this is insecurity that saw 74.3% of businesses that cited security concerns as a major challenge.
Others are insufficient power supply 73.9%; high taxes 73%; financial problems 69.3% and high bank charges 68.2%.
The findings reflect the persistent economic challenges affecting businesses across Nigeria, with financial burdens, infrastructural issues, and security concerns ranking as major obstacles. The CBN Business Expectations Survey (BES) is a monthly survey of leading firms drawn from Business Establishment updated frames of Central Bank of Nigeria and the National Bureau of Statistics. The January 2025 Business Expectations Survey (BES) was conducted from January 13 to 17, 2025 with a sample size of 1,900 business enterprises across Nigeria. The survey achieved a response rate of 99.7%, covering three key sectors as industry, services, and agriculture.
The economy’s overall capacity utilization was at 56.8% according to the apex bank for the month of January 2025. Despite these challenges, the report noted that the Mining and Quarrying sector recorded the highest capacity utilization for January 2025, reaching 60.3%. This indicates that businesses in this sector were able to leverage available resources and opportunities better than others amid economic uncertainties. Respondent firms were optimistic that the volume of business activity in February, April and July 2025 would be favorable according to the report.