Latest data on Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose 58.9 with the five sub-indices in positive territory.
The data which was released by FBN Quest noted that the five variables include output, employment, new orders, delivery times from suppliers and stocks of purchases.
The PMI was arrived at from responses gathered each month from select companies on their views on core variables in their business.
“The respondent, who is characteristically the purchasing manager in a larger firm, has three possible replies: better, unchanged or worse than the previous month,” explained FBN Quest in a statement sent to BusinessDay, “According to the standard methodology, 50 marks a neutral reding and anything higher suggests that the manufacturing economy is expanding.”
From the index, the manufacturing industry fared better as its contraction slowed from -4.4 percent year on year between August and October, 2016, to -2.5 percent.
Textiles, apparel and footwear were the strongest segments as they recorded positive growth at 1.1 percent year on year. Food, beverages and tobacco saw their outputs drop further from the previous quarter.
FBN Quest noted that surge in the headline reading from 52.8 posted in March was the third consecutive increase in 2017 and has placed the index well above water to its highest level since December.
“We see an improvement in business confidence, which we have to attribute to the increased foreign exchange liquidity resulting from the CBN’s many interventions over the past two months. If manufacturers have greater access to imported inputs, it is no surprise that they report higher output, new orders and stocks of purchases,” they noted.
FRANK ELEANYA
