The latest Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) report on Nigeria released by Stanbic IBTC for March this year showed that the headline PMI was unchanged at 51.0 in March, indicating no change in manufacturing activities from the index recorded in February.
Analytically, the report implies that major activities in the manufacturing sector for the month remained unimpressive as fiscal and monetary policy whirlwinds continued to take huge toll on investments in the sector.
The March report also highlighted that the inflation rate for purchase prices hit a record level for the month.
According to the bank, during the month under review the costs of purchasing and the prices of output increased due to the depreciating exchange rate of the Naira in the foreign exchange (FX) markets.
It reported: “The latest reading pointed to a slight improvement in business conditions during the month, and one that was softer than the series trend.
“Price pressures remained elevated in March. The rate of purchase price inflation hit a fresh record high for the second consecutive month, largely due to the impact of currency weakness. There were also some reports of higher transportation costs. Employee pay was also increased in response to cost-of-living pressures, resulting in the sharpest rise in staff costs since last November.
“Around 69% of business owners who responded to the survey reported increased charges for the month making it the steepest increase in purchase price inflation since the survey started in 2014.
“Furthermore, employment dropped even though there were significant levels of employee resignation. However, business owners reported a more positive outlook for the year compared to their opinion in the previous month”, the lender added.
