The Manufacturing sector PMI recorded 66.5 in March which is an increase of 9.4 index points compared to February 2017. This indicates that the manufacturing activities continued to expand in March 2017, largely attributable to increasing orders and manufacturing activities due to new year seasonal demand as reflected through increased in New Orders and Production sub-indices. Stock of Purchases increased with accumulated stock and rectification of delivery delays which witnessed during last month. However, Suppliers’ Delivery Time indicated a decline with normalising supply arrangements especially from China after their new year period. The Employment sub-index also dropped slightly compared to the previous month. Overall data points to an expansion where all the sub-indices are above the neutral 50.0 threshold. The expectations for activities indicated a moderation for the next three months.
The Services Sector PMI recorded 60.8 index points in March from 57.3 index points in February 2017. The increase in PMI over the last month’s value indicates that economic activities in the Services sector expanded at a higher rate in March 2017 compared to the previous month. The expansion in Services sector was supported by expansions in New Businesses and Business Activity. Employment and Expectations for Activity decelerated in March compared to February 2017 while Backlogs of Work declined at a slower rate. Prices Charged which is not taken into consideration in PMI compilation process, increased at a moderated pace in March 2017 compared to the previous month. Future Labour Cost, as measured by Expectations for Labour Cost, increased in March 2017.