THIS WEEK: Stanbic’s new PMI show decline in business activity

THIS WEEK: Stanbic’s new PMI show decline in business activity   

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Stanbic Bank’s latest Purchase Managers Index PMI for September indicates a slight decline in the headline index from 54.1% in August to 53.8% in September, signaling decline in economic activities.

Jibran Qureshi, the Standard Bank’s regional economist for East Africa, however,  said although the index fell, the  average  of  54.1%  in  the  three months  to  September  was  still  higher  than  the average of 51.6% in the first half of the year.

“A strong performance  from  the  coffee  sector  has  supported growth,  however  the  recent armyworm  infestation could still pose as a threat to food crop prices and agricultural  productivity  towards  the  back  end  of the  year,” he said.

He said future outlook performance will partly depend on how the private sector recovers in terms of uptake of credit to stimulate economic activities.

The bank’s PMI bases its calculations on the performance of five key economy areas – new orders, output, employment, suppliers’ delivery times, and stocks of purchases.

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