Nigeria: Economy ends 2017 on positive note
The Stanbic IBTC Bank Nigeria Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) jumped in December, ending the year at a three-year high. The PMI came in at 56.8, above November’s 55.2. The indicator lies comfortably above the 50-point threshold that separates expansion from contraction in business conditions, pointing to robust growth in the private sector.
Record fast growth in new orders drove the PMI’s surge, alongside buoyant output growth. Strong demand led employers to hire additional workers in December and purchasing activity also increased. On the price front, input price inflation eased from November’s 10-month high in December. While overall the survey’s result was positive, Stanbic IBTC Bank Economist Ayomide Mejabi cautioned that, “challenges with petrol supply which emerged in the later part of December likely disrupted business activity and general consumer sentiment” at the end of the month.