Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Wednesday said Nigeria’s Purchasing Manager Index (PMI), which measures the economic health and the prevailing direction of the manufacturing and service sectors from the opinions and views of private sector companies, shrinked in September, its fifth straight month.
According to the apex bank, Manufacturing PMI stood at 46.9 index points in September. It was 48.5 the month before. Any performance above 50 implies an expansion while any below 50 points the way of contraction.
Productive activities in Africa’s largest economy are taking a bashing by the coronavirus outbreak, forcing government to impose months of lockdown and other economic curbs that upset its supply chain and shrivelled its revenue by 65%.
The statistics office reported in August its Gross Domestic Products shrank by 6.10 per cent last quarter and the prognoses are dire that it may taper further this quarter, precipitating its second recession in four.
The CBN statistics unit said 4 subsectors (electrical equipment, transportation equipment, cement and non-metallic mineral products) of the 14 surveyed in September grew while the rest recorded a slowdown.
Meanwhile, the Non-Manufacturing PMI, at 41.9 points, contracted for the sixth straight month.
Water supply, sewage & waste management; arts, entertainment & recreation as well as professional, scientific, & technical services reported growth of the 17 subsectors in this category. The rest 14 contracted.
Manufacturing in Nigeria has not had it easy this month, with bakers threatening to hike the price of a staple like bread by as much as 60%, citing the galloping costs of sugar, flour and other ingredients.
“Nobody importing food should be given money,” President Muhammadu Buhari told the apex bank this month, proscribing importation of fertiliser as well.
In July, the CBN ordered banks to halt processing import documents for maize, an essential raw material in poultry feed manufacturing and cereal production.