Riyadh – Mubasher: Saudi Arabia’s headline seasonally adjusted Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) retreated to 56.6 in September 2022 from 57.7 last August, marking a slower rate of expansion.
However, the PMI signalled progress in the Kingdom's non-oil private sector economy for the 25th month in a row, according to the S&P Global PMI’s latest data.
The report showed that output and new orders expanded at strong rates last September, maintaining a positive performance. Both sales and production registered widely solid gains across the non-oil private sector economy, as they also went up for the 25th consecutive month.
Non-oil businesses witnessed a solid input price inflation. Meanwhile, the output price inflation was sustained in September, driven by higher overall operating costs. However, the increase rate was moderate.
Construction firms posted by far the highest surge in costs during September. In addition, employment expenses marginally increased at the slowest rate since June.
David Owen, Economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said: "Albeit down in August, Saudi Arabia's non-oil private sector economy retained an impressive pace of growth during September, especially against the backdrop of increasingly challenging global economic conditions.”
Owen continued: “Both output and new orders rose at rates above their averages for their current 25-month growth sequences, whilst confidence in the quality of goods and services provided meant firms expect to successfully convert into hard contract wins a high proportion of what is an extremely positive pipeline of new business.”
He concluded: "With costs rising at a broadly average rate, combined with a keenness amongst non-oil companies to maintain competitive pricing policies, inflationary pressures presently appear to be contained. Indeed, the latest survey showed output prices rising at a rate broadly in line with trend in September."
