Poland: Manufacturing PMI moves further into contractionary terrain in August
The S&P Global Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) came in at 40.9 in August, down from 42.1 in July. The index moved further below the 50-threshold, signaling a sharper deterioration in business conditions than in the prior month.
Both output and new orders contracted sharply in August, weighed down by shrinking domestic and external demand and high inflation. Moreover, employment decreased for the third consecutive month. Both input costs and output prices continued to rise significantly. That said, the paces of growth in both input and output costs were milder than in July. Lastly, firms’ sentiment about the future improved slightly from July, but remained weighed down by fears of recession.
Commenting on the latest survey results, Paul Smith, economics director at S&P Global, said:
“Poland’s manufacturing economy remained mired in deep contraction territory during August, amid reports of an increasingly difficult business climate characterized by high inflation, reduced purchasing power, and general market instability.”
Meanwhile, Piotr Poplawski and Adam Antoniak, economists at ING, stated:
“Outside of the pandemic period, this is the lowest score since the financial crisis. However, the PMI has for months been pointing to an overly pessimistic picture of manufacturing.”