Nigeria: PMI eases from over two-year high in September

The Stanbic IBTC Bank Nigeria Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) inched down from 55.0 in August to 54.9 in September. August’s reading had marked an over two-year high. The indicator lies comfortably above the 50-point threshold that separates expansion from contraction in business conditions.

New orders and output grew robustly in September, fueling the overall healthy PMI reading. New export orders expanded for the first time in three months and firms added jobs at the fastest rate in nearly two years. On the price front, input price inflation eased slightly, while output price inflation increased.

FocusEconomics Consensus Forecast panelists expect gross fixed investment growth to reach 1.7% in 2017, and 3.6% in 2018.