Riyadh – Mubasher: The headline seasonally adjusted Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) of Saudi Arabia went up to 57.2 in September 2023 from 56.6 last August, according to Riyad Bank’s latest data.

Some firms witnessed higher new business initiatives in sales and marketing departments during September, with the upturn sharpening to the strongest since June.

The PMI reading underlined continued strength in purchasing and hiring, as the activity surged sharply due to a hike in input requirements.

Moreover, the employment numbers rose during the month, with the moderate uplift still among the fastest recorded in the past five years.  

Output expectations picked up sharply in September, after dropping to the weakest level since mid-2020 in August.

Naif Al Ghaith, Chief Economist at Riyad Bank, highlighted: “The non-oil economy continues its growth despite the challenges arising from the current monetary policy conditions.”

“Our view is that non-oil GDP will continue to support growth and remain above 5.5% for 2023 supported by the ongoing reforms under the vision 2030,” Al Ghaith elaborated.

He added: “Despite the increase in input prices, prices of goods did not register the same increase and were instead muted by stronger competition. Thus, our expectation is that the headline inflation rate for Saudi Arabia will average 2.5% for 2023.”

“External headwinds have impacted exports of non-oil companies which decreased slightly in September. However, input and imports are continuing to rise, which would impact the ratio of non-oil exports to imports to below 31,” the Chief Economist pointed out.