Nigeria: PMI slips in December
In December, the Stanbic IBTC Bank Nigeria Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) came in at 55.0, slightly below November’s 55.5. Despite the fall, the PMI lies far above the 50-point threshold that separates expansion from contraction in business conditions, pointing to robust growth in the private sector.
Weaker growth in new orders and output drove December’s moderation. That said, client demand remained firm. Although backlogs of work rose at a marked rate, firms increased employment only modestly amid a sharp rise in staffing costs, which was the second fastest in the survey’s history. Input cost inflation also picked up in December, in part reflecting higher raw material prices, and led output prices to climb at the fastest clip since January 2017.