Business activities pick up to 5-month high in October
News
By
Dominic Omondi
| Nov 04, 2021
Business activities picked up for the first time in five months in October following the easing of Covid-19 containment measures.
This is according to the latest Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) released yesterday.
The PMI, a barometer of the health of the country’s private sector, showed increased output of goods and services and new businesses last month.
“New business volumes continued to rise, with Kenyan firms extending the current run of growth that began in May,” says the report that is jointly done by Stanbic Bank and IHS Markit, an information services company.
READ MORE
African leaders call for climate equity and financial reforms
Entrepreneurs to be trained on cybersecurity
Inflation edges up to 5.1pc in May amidst price hikes in key sectors
Project to turn waste into fertiliser
Want to build a strong brand? This is what you should do
Captains of industry raise concerns over proposed tax hikes
E-mobility firm targets transport sector with new electric taxis
Trade CS Miano says Buy Kenya-Build Kenya aims to promote local products
Kenya Power to install 35 electric vehicle chargers
Kenya records improvements in budget transparency, utilisation
This, said the panellists, was due to greater customer spending as cash flow and economic conditions improved.
President Uhuru Kenyatta also lifted the dusk-to-dawn curfew last month, in what is likely to boost the operations of firms in tourism and hospitality.
The PMI survey showed an uptick in business activities last month with a reading of 51.4, up from 50.4 in September, the highest reading in five months.
“That said, the index signalled only a modest improvement in business conditions and one that was slower than the series long-run trend,” said the report.
At the height of the pandemic last year, the reading dipped to 37.5 in March from 49 recorded in February following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease in the country, which has disrupted global supply chains and brought the hospitality industry to its knees.
As the containment measures have been eased, economic output has improved, with some who had lost jobs finding their way back into the job market.
Last year, the size of the economy contracted by 0.3 per cent owing to a depressed output in hotel and accommodation, education, transport and storage.