RIYADH: Qatar’s non-oil private sector continued to maintain strong growth in October, with the country’s Purchasing Managers’ Index reaching 50.8 on improving business conditions.
The latest Qatar Financial Center survey data, compiled by S&P Global, however, showed the newly released figure was down from the 53.7 recorded in September. Nevertheless, the overall increase has continued since February.
PMI is a composite single-digit indicator of non-energy private sector performance. It is based on indicators of new orders, production, employment, supplier delivery times and purchasing levels.
The headline index has recently fallen below its long-term average of 52.3 in 2017.
Business conditions in Qatar’s private non-energy sector economy continued to improve as we entered the final quarter of 2023, albeit at a slightly slower pace, QFC CEO Yousuf Mohamed Al-Jaida said in a report.
He added: All three main indicators of production, new orders and employment recorded further gains in October, and businesses remained optimistic about the 12-month outlook.
The report revealed that both activity and the number of new businesses in the Gulf country increased for the ninth consecutive month, with strong demand, especially from wholesalers and retailers. Nevertheless, the overall growth rate has slowed since September.
Additionally, non-oil private sector employment rose for an eighth month through October as the outlook remains positive.
This increase was mainly due to recruitment by construction companies and manufacturers, which also had the best 12-month activity prospects this month.
On the other hand, while profitability improved as companies raised the prices of their goods and services at the fastest pace since February, input prices fell for the first time in 10 months.
While transaction volumes grew at a slower pace, the latest data suggests that corporate profits improved as input and output price sub-indices moved in opposite directions, Al-Jaida stressed.
The CEO added that service fees increased for the second month, the fastest in six months.
Financial services data suggests that the sector continued to outperform the overall economy in October. He revealed that there was a further strong increase in activity and new contracts, the indexes of which reached levels of 58.3 and 55.0.
The PMI report was based on survey responses from a panel of approximately 450 private sector companies.
The index covers the industrial, construction, wholesale, retail and services sectors and reflects the structure of the non-energy economy according to official national accounts data.
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