Saudi Arabia’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) decreased in April, according to a press release from S&P Global.
The headline index figure fell to 55.7, from 56.8 in March, the lowest reading in 3 months.
Despite this, output continued to rise driven by solid growth in new client orders, albeit at the lowest rate of growth since January.
New business also rose at a slower pace in April. Some panelists indicated a drop in sales due to recent increases in charges.
However, the rate of job creation quickened to the fastest since June 2021 as firms made efforts to maintain a degree of spare capacity which helped to cut backlogs.
On the other hand, non-oil businesses were less confident in April, however, that activity will continue to grow.
A considerable degree of uncertainty over the impact of higher global prices and geopolitical tensions resulted in the lowest degree of positive sentiment since January 2022 and one of the lowest on record.
S&P Global compiles the Saudi Arabia PMI from responses to questionnaires sent to purchasing managers in a panel of around 400 private sector companies.
The PMI is a weighted average of the following five indices: New Orders (30 percent), Output (25 percent), Employment (20 percent), Suppliers’ Delivery Times (15 percent) and Stocks of Purchases (10 percent).
