The manufacturers Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) declined by 3 percent to 41.1 index points between May and June 2020, indicating an increased shrinking in the sector1. The slowdown was noted across 9 of the 14 surveyed subsectors and was attributed to continued decline in production levels, supply deliveries and new orders within the manufacturing sector. Conversely, the non-manufacturers PMI rose from 25.3 to 35.7 index points albeit lower than the 50-point benchmark. This was driven by an increase in employment, inventories and overall business activity. This rise follows the gradual removal of the lockdown measures and is expected to persist as next month’s business outlook for the manufacturing and non-manufacturing sectors is 2.7 and 2.4 percent higher respectively2. Firms should be prepared to shift their supply chains and adjust to the new business environment. For instance, as remote working becomes the new normal, the increased demand for computing infrastructure is an opportunity firms can seize.
July 14, 2020
Nigeria Economic Update (Issue 26)
Related
Nigeria Economic Update (Issue 8)
The falling tide in the international value
of Naira experienced a reversal in the review week with naira appreciating
significantly by 11 percent from N516/$ on February 17, 2017 to N460/$ on
February 24, 2017 at the parallel market the first appreciation
since December 2016. The recent rise in naira value was driven by forex
supply-demand gap closure, sequel to improvements in dollar liquidity. The
recent CBN Special intervention (e.g. the auction and sale of $370 million and
$1.5 million respectively, by the apex bank during the week) and its
revised forex policy guidelinescontributed in dousing speculations
in the parallel market, thus gradually narrowing the margin between the
interbank and parallel market rates. Given that the sustainability of naira
appreciation is strongly hinged on the improvement in foreign reserve which is
largely dependent on crude oil sales, the government should continue its
efforts at calming tensions in the Niger Delta region.