A new PMI survey revealed that the growth of Kuwait’s non-oil private sector accelerated in May compared to April, reaching the strongest pace in nearly four years.
According to the report by S&P Global, Kuwait’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to 52.4 in May, up from 51.5 in April. The 50-point mark is the threshold between expansion and contraction.
The paper indicated that Kuwaiti non-oil companies saw robust and accelerated increases in new business and production last month. The growth rates surpassed those seen only during the recovery period following the easing of COVID-19 restrictions in mid-2020.
The data also showed that job creation had resumed in response to rising workloads, though the increase in staffing levels was marginal, resulting in a record backlog of unfinished business.
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Competitive pricing remained a key feature, with product prices rising modestly in May despite sharp increases in production costs. However, the pace of inflation in production supply prices showed some signs of easing since April.
May saw strong growth in new orders, with the fastest pace since the survey began in September 2018, except for the post-COVID recovery in June and July 2020. New export orders also increased at a quicker rate in the middle of the second quarter.
Marketing, pricing boost production and new orders
Business activity rose at a strong and accelerated pace in May, marking the 16th consecutive month of production growth. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the expansion of both production and new orders was driven by successful marketing campaigns and competitive pricing.
However, procurement costs continued to rise sharply in May. Survey respondents cited a range of factors contributing to increased inflation, including higher spending on advertising and rising prices for raw materials.
The S&P survey covered around 350 private sector companies across manufacturing, construction, wholesale, retail, and service sectors in Kuwait.
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