Private Sector Business Conditions Improved in March – Report

• Private Sector Business Conditions Improved in March – Report

Private sector business conditions in Nigeria improved at an unparalleled rate in March, led by record growth in new orders, employment and stocks of purchases, a Stanbic IBTC Bank’s report said on Tuesday.

Panel respondents frequently noted an upturn in demand across the domestic market, while new export orders also returned to growth in the latest survey.

The lender’s Purchasing Managers’ Index report for March noted that price pressures sharpened in March, with both input and output charge inflation registering above their respective long-run averages.

The headline figure derived from the survey is the PMI. Readings above 50 signal an improvement in business conditions on the previous month, while readings below 50 show deterioration.

The report read in part, “The main findings of the March survey were as follows: At 58.8, up from 56.0 in February, the figure accelerated to a record high in March, signalling the fastest improvement in business conditions since the survey began in January 2014. Furthermore, the first quarter of 2018 indicated the strongest quarterly expansion on record.”

Stanbic IBTC noted that inflows of new business received by private sector firms were a key component of the latest expansion.

“The rate of growth was unprecedented in March, with many firms reporting a strong upturn in domestic economic conditions. New order books have been improving continuously since the start of 2017. Meanwhile foreign demand returned to expansion in the latest survey,” the PMI report stated.