Riyadh – Mubasher: Saudi Arabia’s non-oil private sector witnessed robust growth at the end of 2020, supported by a substantial increase in output and the fastest rise in new business for 12 months, according to a survey.
The headline seasonally adjusted IHS Markit Saudi Arabia Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to its highest reading for 13 months in December, up from 54.7 in November to 57.0, signalling a sharp improvement in operating conditions and marking a fourth successive month of expansion.
Economist at IHS Markit, David Owen, said, "The Saudi Arabian non-oil economy is well on the path to recovery, according to December's PMI results, which indicated the strongest output growth since November 2019. Moreover, the PMI is now (just) above its series trend level, suggesting the economy is growing at a relatively normal pace, albeit with a lingering output gap to recover.”
"On the negative side, the latest expansion did not support a rise in job numbers during December. In fact, employment fell slightly as firms diverted spending towards inputs and noted that current capacity still allowed them to clear both new and outstanding work."
Business expectations for the upcoming year improved further, as optimism was bolstered by the global roll-out of Covid-19 vaccines and hopes that this will lead to a strong recovery in economic activity.
With sales rising, and improving business optimism, firms sharply raised both their purchasing activity and stocks of inputs in December. The arrival of some inputs was delayed as suppliers' delivery times lengthened for the eleventh month running.
