Stanbic Bank’s PMI Rises to a 27-Month High

Stanbic Bank’s seasonally adjusted Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) has increased from 55.7 percent in March to 56.4 percent in April hitting a 27-month high.

According to Stanbic Bank, the rise in PMI in April was as a result of the improved private sector “to the strongest since January 2016.”

Stanbic says that business activity rose at the start of the second quarter, in the process extending the period of expansion to five months.

The latest upturn was the sharpest recorded since the inception of the series. Stable economic conditions and greater volumes of incoming new business were the key factors behind output growth, according to panelists.

In line with the trend seen for business activity, new orders rose for the fifth consecutive month during April. The rate of expansion accelerated to the fastest since December 2016.

Anecdotal evidence pointed to strong demand from both domestic and external markets. At the same time, despite softening from March’s survey-record, new export orders rose at a sharp pace.

A back-to-back monthly rise in backlogs was registered at the start of the second quarter. Moreover, the rate of accumulation was solid and accelerated to the fastest since last May.  Respondents reported that greater inflows of new work were behind the latest increase in outstanding business.