The Stanbic IBTC Bank’s Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI) showed that the strengthening of the Naira in the foreign exchange market slowed down the pace of inflationary pressure in the month of April.
The PMI’s headline, showed a marginal increase in business condition in the Nigerian private sector as it grew to 51.1 percentage point in April from 51.0 it recorded in March, pointing to a fifth consecutive monthly improvement in business conditions.
It stated that the conditions for firms continued to be heavily influenced by movements of the Naira in the foreign exchange market and the subsequent impact on prices.
The report said: An improvement in the strength of the currency over the past month led to sharp slowdowns in rates of increase in purchase prices and output charges, although inflationary pressures remained substantial, nonetheless.
The latest rise in selling prices was the softest in just under a year. Slower price increases were seen across all four broad sectors covered by the survey. Although price increases were less pronounced than in March, the extent of inflationary pressures continued to limit rates of growth in output and new orders in April, both of which were unchanged from the previous month.
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