Latest news with #PGlobalPurchasingManagers'Index
IOL News
06-05-2025
- Business
- IOL News
South African households see slight income improvement, but challenges remain
Despite a slight improvement in household incomes in South Africa, challenges persist as disposable income continues to decline, driven by interest rate hikes and economic uncertainties. Picture: Ron AI Image: Supplied The financial position of South African households improved slightly in the fourth quarter, but real disposable income per person for 2024 continued its decline from 2022, when the interest rate raising cycle increased. This was according to economist Dr Roelf Botha, who commented on the release on Tuesday of the Altron FinTech Household Resilience Index (AFHRI) for the fourth quarter of 2024. He attributed the modest improvement to three 25 basis point cuts in the repo rate between September 2024 and January 2025, which lowered the prime overdraft rate to 11% from a record high of 11.75%. Consumers also benefited from year-end bonuses, two-pot pension payouts, and temporary jobs in the holiday period, particularly in the tourism and retail sectors. 'The data clearly shows that while we're seeing some recovery, households remain under significant financial strain following this period of high interest rates. The marginal interest-rate cuts provided some small relief, but more substantial monetary policy easing is required to meaningfully improve household financial resilience, especially in the face of the diminished global growth figures anticipated this year," said Altron FinTech MD Johan Gellatly. Dr Botha said households are not out of the woods yet. At the latest meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank, the rate-cutting cycle was halted, which would prevent the debt cost burden of households from dropping to a level that would encourage a more permanent recovery of household expenditure – the key driver of aggregate demand in the economy. The AFHRI's four-quarter average, which eliminates seasonality, had started to recover but has barely remained above the level recorded at the end of 2021, when the MPC started its relentless cycle of interest rate increases, despite lacklustre GDP growth and an obvious absence of excess demand in the economy, said Dr Botha. The ratio of household debt costs to disposable incomes declined from 9.1% to 8.9%, but this also remained significantly higher than the 6.8% level in 2021. 'The cost of credit (and of capital formation) in the South African economy remains 31% higher than four years ago – one of the main reasons for the lethargic economic growth rate that moved in tandem with each increase in the repo rate,' said Botha. 'The decision by the MPC at its March policy meeting not to lower the repo rate further is regrettable, as several key economic indicators continue to show weakness, with business confidence having retracted since the beginning of the year,' he said. The S&P Global Purchasing Managers' Index for South Africa fell to 47.4 in January 2025, down from 49.9 in December, marking the sharpest contraction in the private sector since July 2021.
Reuters
03-04-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Russian service sector nears stagnation as new order growth weakens, PMI shows
April 3 (Reuters) - Russia's service sector lost further momentum in March, with business activity growing at its shallowest rate in nine months as new order growth eased and employment contracted, a business survey showed on Thursday. The S&P Global Purchasing Managers' Index for Russian services fell to 50.1 in March from 50.5 in February, indicating only a tiny expansion in output. Readings above 50 signal growth in activity, while below that indicates contraction. New business in the sector continued to rise but at the slowest pace since last July, as some firms reported reduced purchasing power among customers. Firms' workforce numbers declined in March at the quickest pace since January 2023, ending a 19-month sequence of expansion, S&P Global said. "Anecdotal evidence suggested that the drop in staffing levels was due to the non-replacement of voluntary leavers," S&P Global said. Despite the overall slowdown, business confidence remained historically high, reaching its strongest level since May 2024. Service providers expressed optimism about future output, supported by plans to expand service lines and expectations of improved demand conditions. A sister survey published on Tuesday showed that Russia's manufacturing sector experienced its sharpest contraction in nearly three years in March due to weak domestic and foreign demand.
Zawya
03-03-2025
- Business
- Zawya
UK factories cut staff at fastest pace since 2020 but optimism rises, PMI shows
British factories cut staff at the fastest pace in nearly five years last month as the government's payroll tax increase began to push up their costs and demand at home and abroad was weak, a survey showed on Monday. But manufacturers also turned the most positive in six months as they hoped for a pick-up in the economy. The S&P Global Purchasing Managers' Index for UK manufacturing remained below the 50.0 threshold that divides growth from contraction for a fifth month in a row, sinking to a 14-month low of 46.9 in February. That was above a preliminary estimate for February of 46.4 but below January's 48.3. The PMI's jobs measure fell to its lowest since May 2020 - early in the COVID-19 pandemic - with factories responding to a rise in their social security contributions bill by laying off temporary staff, reducing the working hours of some employees, making redundancies and not replacing leavers. The rise in National Insurance Contributions - announced by finance minister Rachel Reeves last October to help pay for more public services and investment - takes effect on April 1. That is also the date for a nearly 7% increase in the minimum wage. Firms told S&P Global that suppliers were putting up their prices ahead of the change. In turn, manufacturers increased their selling prices by the most since April 2023, S&P Global said. Demand from outside Britain remained weak with new export orders falling by the most in a year. However, the survey's measure of business optimism rose to a six-month high in February, linked to investment spending, new business plans and hopes that economic conditions would strengthen. Britain's economy showed almost no growth in the second half of last year and the Bank of England last month halved its economic growth forecast for 2025 to just 0.75%. "This combination of absent growth and rising prices will contribute to a growing dilemma for the Bank of England over the coming months," Rob Dobson, Director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said. The final February PMI for Britain's much larger services sector is due on Wednesday. Other figures have painted a less bleak picture of the jobs market than the PMI surveys, at least so far. Data provided by employers to the tax authorities showed the number of employees unexpectedly climbed by 21,000 in January from December. The BoE is watching the jobs market closely as it gauges whether inflation pressures remain too strong for it to speed up its gradual pace of interest rate cuts. (Writing by William Schomberg Editing by Christina Fincher)
Arab News
14-02-2025
- Business
- Arab News
Habib Bank, S&P Global launch Pakistan's first index to track manufacturing sector
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's largest bank, Habib Bank Limited (HBL), and global financial information and analytics firm S&P Global have launched a new index to track the country's manufacturing sector, the companies said on Friday. Rising taxes and power tariffs have led to social unrest and hammered industries in Pakistan's $350 billion economy, as it navigates a tricky path to recovery under a $7 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) program approved in September. The HBL S&P Global Purchasing Managers' Index will be a standardized economic indicator based on a survey of a diverse panel of industries. It will be Pakistan's first comprehensive manufacturing index and a welcome source of information for investors in a country where economic data is scarce. The industries will be asked about their perceptions of current business conditions and future expectations and the index will be released on the first working day of each month, the companies said in a statement. 'The launch of Pakistan's first ever PMI is a significant event contributing to the accessibility of timely and high-frequency data to track economic developments in Pakistan and support decision making by financial institutions, investors and businesses,' said Luke Thompson, Managing Director of S&P Global Market Intelligence, in a statement. Muhammad Nassir Salim, President & CEO of HBL said the series will enhance investor confidence and transparency in Pakistan's economy.
Reuters
05-02-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Russian services sector sees fastest growth in a year, PMI shows
Feb 5 (Reuters) - Russia's services sector saw its fastest growth in a year in January, buoyed by a sharp increase in new business, a survey showed on Wednesday. The S&P Global Purchasing Managers' Index for Russian services rose to 54.6 in January from 51.2 in December, indicating a strong expansion in output. A reading above 50 signals growth in activity, while below 50 indicates contraction. New business at Russian services firms increased for a seventh consecutive month, with the pace of growth the quickest in 12 months. The survey attributed this to improved demand conditions and a diversification of service lines. However, inflationary pressures intensified. Input prices rose at the fastest rate in a year, driven by higher supplier and transportation costs, as well as increased wage bills. In response, firms raised their output prices at the joint-quickest pace since July 2024. Employment in the services sector continued to rise, although the pace of job creation eased from December. Meanwhile, backlogs of work accumulated for the third month in a row, as new order inflows placed pressure on capacity. The level of incomplete business rose at the second-fastest rate since August 2023. Business confidence improved, with optimism about future output at its highest level since September 2024.
