Manufacturing sector slows down while services sector grows in June

November 22, 2024

Economy

Manufacturing sector slows down while services sector grows in June

July 18, 2018

Sri Lanka's manufacturing sector slowed down in June 2018, compared to the previous month, while the Services Sector expanded albeit slowly, the Central Bank's Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) Survey released for the month showed. According to the survey, the Manufacturing PMI decreased to 57.6 index points in June 2018 from 60.6 index points observed in the previous month and was in line with the pattern observed in the previous years.

The significant drop in Production especially that of manufacturing of food, beverages and tobacco products largely contributed for this decrease. New Orders and Stock of Purchases also decreased during the month.

Meanwhile, the time taken by the suppliers to deliver materials increased due to unfavorable weather conditions prevailed during the month and the tightened environmental regulations in China. As a result, the Suppliers' Delivery Time lengthened.

The Services Sector PMI increased to 58.7 index points in June 2018 from 56.9 index points recorded in May 2018 supported by faster growth in Business Activity, Employment and Expectations for Activity.The strong growth in Business Activities was mainly observed in financial services, health services and wholesale and retail trade sectors.

However, the pace of growth in transportation of goods and warehousing sector eased in June 2018 due to upward revisions to fuel prices.Expansion in business activities partly contributed towards the rise in employment levels to the highest since December 2015, which in turn led Backlogs of Work to decline.