Saudi PMI shows private sector growth at 17-month high: ENBD

Saudi Arabia’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) climbed to a 17-month high of 57.3 in May, according to the latest survey by Emirates NBD released on Monday.

Up from 56.8 in April, the index has now risen in six of the last eight months, signaling a sustained improvement in growth momentum.

The month of May saw a further improvement in the health of Saudi Arabia’s non-oil private sector, as latest data from the Emirates NBD Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) survey showed faster growth in both output and new orders.

Output across the non-oil private sector rose sharply and the most since December 2017, buoyed by stronger underlying demand conditions according to reports from surveyed businesses.

Inflows of new business likewise increased steeply, with the rate of growth reaccelerating and running at one of the fastest seen over the past four years.

“The gradual rise in the headline PMI this year suggests that growth in the kingdom’s non-oil private sector is recovering after a relatively soft 2018,” Khatija Haque, Head of MENA Research at Emirates NBD, said.

“Other indicators, such as an improvement in private sector credit growth and rising point of sale transactions in the first quarter of this year are consistent with a modest rebound in private sector activity,” she added.

As per the findings of the May survey headline PMI climbed to 17-month high of 57.3 amid sustained acceleration in output growth.

The survey however showed job creation across non-oil private sector remaining lackluster, while prices charged for goods and services rising for first time in seven months, albeit only marginally.