Saudi’s May PMI at six month high | GulfNews.com

Saudi’s May PMI at six month high | GulfNews.com:

"Saudi Arabia Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to 54.8 in May from 54.2 in April, the highest reading since November 2015. Both output and new orders grew at a strong pace last month, with the sub-indices at 60.6 and 58.1 respectively.

Domestic demand has been the main driver of order growth, with respondents citing new project start-ups and the introduction of new products as contributing to new business last month. New export orders declined for the second month in a row, reflecting soft external demand. However, the decline in export orders was marginal in May.

Encouragingly, employment growth picked up slightly in May, but remains relatively modest with this subindex at just 510, below the average for the first quarter of 2016. Purchasing activity gained momentum last month, with the quantity of purchases index rising to 57.4 and the stocks of purchases (inventories) index rising to 53.2. This likely reflects both increased orders in May as well as expectations of improved future demand."



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