Mozambique’s Economic Climate Indicator records “tenuous recovery” in April – INE

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Mozambique’s Economic Climate Indicator records “tenuous recovery” in April – INE

7:42 CAT | 09 Jun 2021

FILE - Maputo city. [File photo: Macauhub]

The Mozambican Economic Climate Indicator (ECI), which measures business confidence, recorded a “tenuous recovery” in April compared to the previous month, the Mozambican National Institute of Statistics (INE) announced this Tuesday.

The index rose from 87.2 to 87.7 points, “an interruption of the negative trend observed for three consecutive months” and reflecting the impact of Covid-19 on the Mozambican economy.

“The favourable situation was influenced by the perspectives of a rise in employment and demand in the same reference period,” the report adds.

The main positive contribution came from the accommodation, hospitality, industrial production, trade and transport sectors, in contrast to construction and non-financial services, which registered a decline in relation to the previous month.

The evolution of the ECI is in line with the improvement of the PMI indicator for April, as calculated by Standard Bank Moçambique, which rose above the neutral value of 50 for the first time since February 2020.

The ECI is part of the bulletin of Confidence and Economic Climate Indicators, a monthly publication based on a monthly survey of companies in the non-financial sector carried out by the INE.

“The study expresses the opinion of economic agents about the evolution and perspective of their activity, particularly on employment, demand, orders, prices, production, sales and activity limitations,” the Mozambican statistical authority explains.

Mozambique had, by Monday, registered a cumulative total of 838 deaths associated with Covid-19 and 71,145 cases of SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus infection, of which 98% recovered.

May showed the lowest number of Covid-19 cases and deaths in Mozambique since a peak of 274 deaths and more than 20,000 infections in February.

Although official figures have helped the country enter a new phase of easing restrictions, health authorities have called for respect for prevention measures in the face of fears of a third wave of infections, such as that already detected in neighbouring South Africa.

Source: Lusa