Ghana: PMI increases slightly in November but remains in contractionary territory
The S&P Global Purchasing Managers’ index (PMI) came in at 44.9 in November, up from October’s 44.0. Consequently, the index remained below the 50.0 no-change threshold, signaling a continued deterioration in sector operating conditions from the previous month. Novembers result represented the tenth consecutive monthly deterioration in business conditions.
The print confirmed that private sector conditions continued to deteriorate sharply in November—albeit at a slightly slower rate than in October. Inflationary pressures, amid a weak currency and rising fuel costs, were the main driver of this. Input prices increased at one of the fastest rates in eight years, while output costs rose at their sharpest since the survey started in January 2014. In this context, firms saw their output and new orders contract further—the latter suffering its ninth consecutive decline—while the employment reading fell for the fifth month running.
Andrew Harker, economics director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, underlined that:
“For now, firms are battling their way through the financial storm and hoping that economic conditions start to improve at some point soon. Unless any major changes occur, the end of the year is likely to remain challenging.”