Mozambique’s PMI business activity index rises to four-month high – Standard Bank

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Mozambique’s PMI business activity index rises to four-month high – Standard Bank

8:44 CAT | 11 Nov 2021

File photo: Lusa

An increase in orders is giving new impetus to Mozambican companies, according to Standard Bank latest PMI index, which in October rose to 52.1, its highest for four months.

“The October PMI™ survey data indicated a strengthening of business conditions across the Mozambican economy,” the bank’s analysis reads.

“New orders drove a renewed expansion in output and a further addition to staff numbers,” although “reports of supply chain disruption grew”, resulting in “the first lengthening of delivery times since August, 2020”.

On the other hand, “higher raw material prices put increased pressure on firms’ purchasing costs.”

The PMI rose from 50.4 in September to 52.1 in October (values above 50 denote an improvement; values below 50 are a sign of retreat).

Also according to Standard Bank, business expectations for next year “remained robust during October, with around 65% of the survey panel expecting output levels to improve”.

The analysis concludes that this “reflected hopes of a recovery from the pandemic, leading to projections of a strengthening in demand and increased hiring activity”.

The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) published by Standard Bank results from the responses of purchasing directors at around 400 private sector companies.

Mozambique had, by Monday, registered a cumulative total of 1,934 deaths among 151,371 Covid-19 cases, 99% of which have recovered – a slowdown in infections after the peak of the third wave in July.