Business activity in Saudi Arabia improves in December despite Omicron concerns
04 January, 2022
Business activity in Saudi Arabia’s non-oil private sector economy continued to expand in December despite a slowdown in growth as concerns about the rapid spread of the Covid-19 Omicron variant hit demand in the Arab world’s largest economy.
The kingdom's seasonally adjusted purchasing managers' index – a gauge designed to give a snapshot of operating conditions in the non-oil private sector economy – slipped to 53.9 in December from 56.9 in November, however, it remains well above the neutral 50 level.
Although the reading was the lowest since March last year, it indicated “a solid improvement in operating conditions” across the kingdom's non-oil private sector economy, IHS Markit said in its latest PMI survey on Tuesday.
The three-point drop was mainly driven by the new orders sub-index. The rise in new business was sharp, but softer than recent months as several panellists underscored suspension of orders by companies amid slowing customer demand due to Omicron concerns. New business from abroad, however, rose modestly albeit at a weaker rate, according to the survey.
The “dull note” for Saudi Arabia’s PMI at the end of the year is mostly “due to concerns about the global spread of the Omicron variant”, David Owen, an economist at IHS Markit, said.
Source: www.thenationalnews.com
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