Riyadh – Mubasher: The headline seasonally adjusted Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) of Saudi Arabia signalled 56.4 in June, unchanged from its reading in May, and indicating expansion in the non-oil private sector economy.

Business activity in the Kingdom was the fastest seen since January, endorsed by a sharp upturn in new orders, according to the IHS Markit survey.

Saudi business conditions have improved in each of the last 10 months as the sector recovers from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The rollout of COVID-19 vaccines and easing of restrictions also helped to lift confidence for future activity to a five-month high, as firms hope that the economic recovery will accelerate over the second half of the year,” Economist at IHS Markit, David Owen, commented.

Employment continued to rise in June, with the rate of job creation accelerating to the highest level in 19 months since November 2019.

Owen added, “Further increases in sales should encourage firms to expand their workforces, particularly as the outlook for future business conditions looks promising."

New business inflows continued to grow in June, which panellists firmly linked to better demand conditions as COVID-19 restrictions were eased.

The rate of overall input price inflation in Saudi Arabia softened for the first time in 2021-to-date during June. “While firms generally passed on higher costs to their clients, output charges rose only slightly overall as competitive pressures led some firms to offer discounts,” IHS Markit survey showed.