Browsing: Kenya Private sector

Kenya’s private sector activities contracted in September as high fuel prices and inflation took a toll on businesses, which saw a drop in sales, the latest Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) now indicates.

Stanbic Bank Kenya’s PMI slid back into negative territory at the end of the third quarter, as firms saw a sharp contraction in new orders following a brief respite in August. In the period, elevated inflationary pressures and rising fuel bills dampened client sales, leading to the second-fastest rise in input costs in the survey’s near-decade history.…

The Kenyan private sector has recorded improvement for a fourth straight month in August 2021, according to a new report.

Stanbic Bank’s Purchasing Managers’ Index report indicates that the rate of growth picked up in August as firms saw a faster expansion in new business compared to July.

During the period, job creation also strengthened, but output rose at the slowest rate in four months and business confidence fell to a near-record low.

After climbing sharply in July, the pace of input cost inflation eased in August, leading firms to increase their charges at the softest rate in 2021 so far.

As such, the country’s PMI picked up to 51.1 from 50.6 in July, to remain above the 50.0 neutral mark for the fourth month in a row.

According to the index, readings above 50.0 signal an improvement in business conditions on the previous month, while readings below 50.0 show …

Kenya East Africa’s largest and advanced economy has witnessed how the coronavirus has winged the trajectory of its private sector as the levels of activity and demand in May, as the virus stopped various economic interactions, a Stanbic Kenya survey showed.

According to the survey, the Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) stood at 36.7 higher than April’s 34.8.

Further, if there is reading above 50.0 it signals an improvement in business conditions as in the previous month, while readings below 50.0 show deterioration.

However, according to Regional Economist for East Africa at Stanbic Bank Jibran Qureishi said business conditions have worsened in each month of 2020 so far, with the latest deterioration marked by historical standards, according to information from Capital FM Kenya.

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Also, the report noted that “Driving the downturn was a considerable fall in output levels in …