Staff Correspondent, Dhaka
The September reading of the Bangladesh Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) gained 0.8 points from the previous month to post a faster expansion rate at 59.1.
This latest PMI reading was attributed to a faster expansion rate for the manufacturing index, but a slower expansion rate for the services index.
The indexes of both agriculture and construction reverted to expansion readings.
The agriculture sector reverted to an expansion reading.
The sector posted expansion readings for the indexes of new business, business activity, and input costs, and the indexes of employment and order backlogs posted slower contraction readings.
The manufacturing sector posted its 13th month of expansion, and at a faster rate.
The sector posted expansion readings for the indexes of new orders, new exports, factory output, input purchases, finished goods, imports, input prices, and supplier deliveries.
The employment index reverted to an expansion reading, and the order backlogs index posted a slower contraction.
The construction sector reverted to an expansion reading. The sector posted expansion readings for the indexes of new business, construction activity, and input costs. The order backlogs index posted a slower contraction, and the employment index reverted to an expansion reading after recording 4 months of contractions.
The services sector posted its 12th month of expansion, but at a slower rate. The sector posted expansion readings for the indexes of new business, business activity, employment, and input costs, and the order backlogs index posted a slower contraction rate.
In terms of the future business index, faster expansion rates were recorded for the indexes of manufacturing, construction, and services sectors, whereas the agriculture sector posted a slower expansion rate.
“The latest PMI readings indicate that the overall Bangladesh economy continued to expand at a slightly faster rate in September. Agriculture and construction sectors reverted to expansion after improvements in weather condition and gradual rollout of the new fiscal year budget. Meanwhile, the service sector posted a slower expansion reading, possibly due to persistent inflation, which is still the highest in South Asia,” said M Masrur Reaz, chairman and CEO, Policy Exchange Bangladesh.
The PMI is an initiative that aims to offer timely and accurate insights into the country's economic health to help businesses, investors and policy makers take informed decision.
It was developed by MCCI and Policy Exchange, with support from UK Government and technical support from Singapore Institute of Purchasing & Materials Management (SIPMM).
