Saudi Arabia: PMI rises to 10-month high in August
The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), produced by S&P Global, came in at 57.7 in August, up from July’s 56.3 and reaching a 10-month high. As such, the index remained firmly above the 50.0 no-change threshold, signaling stronger improvement in business conditions compared to the previous month.
The stronger print was due to broad-based improvements linked to rising demand, including new orders, output and purchasing activity. Notably, purchasing growth reached a seven-year high. Turning to prices, input inflation fell for the second successive month due to declining commodities costs, feeding into a weaker increase in output prices, which likely stimulated demand. The fall in output inflation was one of the sharpest in series history. Continued reopening from Covid-19 appeared to also boost demand. Furthermore, employment rose for the fifth consecutive month. Finally, businesses remained optimistic, with sentiment at one of the strongest levels seen in the last one-and-a-half years despite easing to a three-month low.