By Modupe Gbadeyanka
A new survey released by Stanbic IBTC has revealed that the private sector recorded an expansion in February 2017.
In the Stanbic IBTC Nigeria Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), it was observed that activities of non-government firms rose for a second straight month, which was inspired by a rise in new business despite a fall in export sales.
In the report released on Friday, the PMI moved from 51.9 in January to 52.2 in February.
It is important to note that this is the strongest reading since December 2015.
According to the Stanbic IBTC report, an overall increase in new business led to a rise in purchasing activity as companies added to their inventory at a faster rate and that growth occurred despite a fall in new export sales.
An Economist at Stanbic IBTC Bank, Mr Ayomide Mejabi, expressed optimism that Nigeria will get out of recession this year.
“The faster than anticipated recovery in the economy may not be unrelated to the fact that survey respondents continue reporting an expansion of output, perhaps due to increased supply of FX needed for import activity and domestic investment.”
He pointed out that output prices continued to rise in February, but the pace was significantly slower and fell to their lowest level since January 2016.
Adedapo Adesanya