The Manufacturing Sector PMI Increased to 58.2 index points in August 2018 from 57.2 index points observed in the previous month. The expansion observed in manufacturing activities in August was mainly driven by expansion in production led by the increase in new orders, especially in manufacturing of textiles, wearing apparel, leather and other related products. Further, employment also increased at a higher rate with the recruitment of employees especially for food and beverages sector led by the positive outlook for improving activities within this sector. However, stock of purchases show some slowdown, especially in manufacturing of other non-metallic mineral products. Nevertheless, stock of purchases in the manufacturing of textiles, wearing apparel, leather and other related products increased. Meanwhile, lengthening of suppliers’ delivery time usually indicates that economy is booming with expanding activities in the short run. However, in this instance, moderation in lengthening of suppliers’ delivery time was due to normalization of the supply disruptions prevailed during the last month in main importing destinations. Thus, it does not indicate a slowdown in economic activities. Overall, all the sub-indices of PMI recorded values above the neutral 50.0 threshold signalling an overall expansion in August. Meanwhile, the Expectation for activities indicates an improvement for the next three months.

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