The Central Bank of Nigeria has reported that the nation’s manufacturers continued to expand their output in the month of February, whereas the Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index still stands at 57.1 points.
The PMI is an indicator of the economic health of the manufacturing sector, which is based on five major indicators: new orders, inventory levels, production, supplier deliveries and the employment environment.
The apex bank said the month’s PMI growth was slower when compared with the 58.5 index points recorded in the preceding month.
According to the CBN’s report, 13 out of the 14 sub-sectors reported growth in the reviewed month. These include petroleum and coal products, electrical equipment, transportation equipment, plastics, rubber products, food, beverage, and tobacco products.
Others are: textile, apparel, leather and footwear, nonmetallic mineral products, chemical and pharmaceutical products, furniture and related products, printing and related support activities, cement, fabricated metal products, and paper products.
The report, however, indicated that the primary metal sub-sector declined in the period under review, even as nine of the 14 manufacturing sub-sectors recorded increased production level. Three of them remained unchanged while two recorded decline.
The CBN reported further that the manufacturing supplier- delivery time index stood at 58.2 points in the period under review, indicating slower supplier delivery time but a growth for the 21 consecutive months.
According to the apex bank, all 14 sub-sectors recorded improved suppliers’ delivery time in the reviewed period, while the employment level index for February stood at 56.3 points, indicating growth in employment level for 22 consecutive months.
Out of the 14 sub-sectors, the report reflected that eight reported increased employment level, five reported unchanged employment level, while one reported decreased employment, in the period under review.
