Businesses across Nigeria are feeling the squeeze of rising borrowing costs, with high interest rates emerging as the most pressing constraint to operations in June 2025, according to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s latest Business Expectations Survey which was released on Monday.
The report, published by the CBN’s Statistics Department, reveals that firms gave interest rates a constraint index score of 75.6, edging out perennial challenges like insecurity (75.2) and insufficient power supply (74.3).
The survey, conducted from June 16 to 20, sampled 1,900 businesses across the Industry, Agriculture, and Services sectors.
The findings show growing frustration among businesses over the elevated cost of borrowing.
While insecurity and poor electricity have long been recognised as structural impediments to Nigeria’s economic growth, the emergence of interest rates as the number one concern reflects how tightening monetary policy is biting harder on corporate finances.
Other major hurdles mentioned by respondents include high bank charges (73.2), high taxes (68.9), an unfavourable economic climate (68.7), and unclear economic laws (67.4).
