CBN report says manufacturing sector grew at slower rate in May

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said the nation’s manufacturing sector grew at a slower rate in May.

The May edition of the CBN’s Purchasing Managers’ Index revealed that the manufacturing sector has been increasing for 14 consecutive months.

According to the Index, “The Manufacturing PMI in May stood at 56.5 index points, indicating expansion in the manufacturing sector for the 14th consecutive month. The index, however, grew at a slower rate when compared to the index in the previous month”. This is against 56.9 index points it recorded in April.

The CBN said the PMI survey, which was conducted by its statistics department, had respondents from the purchasing and supply executives of manufacturing and non-manufacturing organisations in 31 locations in Nigeria.

The report stated that orders and inventories grew at a slower rate, while production level, supplier delivery time and employment level grew at a faster rate in May 2018.

The CBN further explained that a composite PMI above 50 points indicates that the manufacturing /non-manufacturing economy is generally expanding, 50 points indicates no change, while below 50 points indicates that it is generally contracting.