Colombia: Manufacturing PMI falls below 50.0 no-change threshold in May
The S&P Global Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell to 49.9 in May from April’s 52.6. As a result, the index dropped below the 50.0 no-change threshold, signaling a deterioration in manufacturing sector operating conditions from the previous month.
The manufacturing PMI fell as output and new orders contracted, and employment fell for the first time in three months. Meanwhile, input stocks rose at the second-fastest rate since April 2011, and finished stocks increased at a marginal rate. Looking at prices, input inflation accelerated from April’s near-decade low, while output inflation dipped to a 27-month low.
Andrés Langebaek Rueda, Chief Economist Bolivar Group at Davivienda, said:
“Demand in the Colombian economy is being affected by a multiplicity of factors that go beyond the [recent] increase in interest rates and inflation […]. In particular, the uncertainty about economic reforms and the deterioration in the investment climate reported in some surveys are a matter of great concern.”