Business owners project growth in next 12 months – Study

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Business owners in Uganda think the next one year will turn out well for their businesses. This has pushed them to hire more staff and increase their stocks, according to Stanbic bank’s monthly index.

Three-quarters of company managers interviewed said they were optimistic the next twelve months will be good for their companies.

The monthly Purchase Managers Index (PMI) published today shows that Ugandan companies continued to register new orders and consequently increasing their output. The index moved up from 57.3 in May to 57.8 in June. The measure above 50 means businesses saw improvement in their activities and orders of their products. If it is below 50, it means businesses are not well.

“In response, firms took on extra staff and purchased additional inputs,” Stanbic says in the PMI, which compiles responses from questionnaires sent to managers from 400 private sector companies.

The June index conclusions are in line with the government’s projections that the economy will expand by 6.3 per cent in the next twelve months. The government says its own spending on public projects like roads will drive this growth. Last month, the PMI indicates that there were general improvements in demand and successful advertising campaigns were reportedly behind rises in both output and new orders. It added that some companies reportedly offered additional training to marketing staff.

Growth was seen across all five monitored sectors – agriculture, industry, construction, wholesale & retail, and service sectors.

The index also shows there was further increases in both input costs and output prices. Also, staff costs went up as companies took on more people. This, however, meant that prices for final products went up as companies passed on higher cost burdens to their customers.   All the sectors monitored, save for industry, saw a rise in employment. Stanbic has been publishing the PMI since June 2016.

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