THE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said business perception of inflation remained high despite the consecutive drop in inflationary pressure in recent times.
It stated this in its latest Inflation Expectations Survey for June 2025.
The report compared public perception of inflation in June with the previous month.
According to the report, business sentiment did not mirror the broader trend of a declining inflation rate as reported by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
It indicated that the percentage of business respondents who perceive inflation as high rose from 71.5 per cent in May to 72.3 per cent in June.
An analysis of the business sizes – large, medium, small and micro – indicated that the respondents expressed perception that the inflation rate is very high relative to those who see it as moderate or low.
“Respondents (Businesses and Households) identified energy, exchange rate and transportation as the top three inflation drivers,” CBN stated.
It stated further that natural disasters, activities of middlemen and infrastructure challenges were perceived as less significant contributors to inflation drivers in the review period.
A total of 3,365 respondents were interviewed, comprising 1900 firms and 1665 households during the survey, the report added.
The ICIR reported recently that Nigeria’s headline inflation moderated to 22.22 per cent in June, from 22.97 per cent in May, marking the third consecutive month of decline.
Inflation has dropped sharply from 34.80 per cent in December 2024 to 24.48 per cent in January after the NBS rebased the Consumer Price Index (CPI), a metric used to calculate the inflation figure.
Since the rebased CPI, inflation has continued to moderate but has failed to reflect on the general price level of goods and services.
Food prices and other items are increasing and skyrocketing daily as households and businesses struggle to survive.
The latest report on business activity in the Nigerian private sector in June revealed a further slowdown, tending towards a negative territory as output levels hit a seven-month low, The ICIR reported.