Riyadh – Mubasher: The Saudi non-oil private sector saw a strong performance during October, after output and new orders increased, which helped improve operating conditions.

Price-wise, cost prices increased which resulting in higher selling prices, the Emirates NBD-sponsored report released Sunday showed, indicating the kingdom’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to 55.6 last month, from 55.5 in September.

Meanwhile, average cost burdens, which were linked to a rise in raw material costs, saw a marginal rise last month, with companies across the kingdom’s non-oil private sector passing on a portion of the additional cost to their customers by raising prices.

“The headline PMI index for Saudi Arabia has been broadly stable for the last four months, at a level which suggests solid growth in the non-oil sector,” Khatija Haque, head of MENA research at Emirates NBD, said.

“Encouragingly, firms were much more optimistic in October than they were in September, which bodes well for growth in the final quarter of this year,” Haque added.

New business in the Kingdom increased unexpectedly during October. Strong local demand in business was attributed to improvements in order books, while new export orders grew for the third month in a row.

“The upturn in demand for Saudi-produced goods and services led to sharp growth in output,” according to the report.

Saudi non-oil private sector companies continued to recruit new employees during October.

Optimism regarding future expectation of Saudi economic growth reached a five-month high last month, while “better marketing campaigns, business investments and an expected improvement in economic conditions underpinned the latest rise in confidence,” the report showed.