Manufacturing sector grew slightly in April – CBN report

The manufacturing sector recorded marginal growth as the Purchasing Managers’ Index rose to 49.0 index points in April from 48.8 index points in March, according to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN’s) latest report.

The CBN’s report by the Monetary Policy Committee stated that “The committee noted that the marginal growth in the Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index to 49.0 index points in April 2021 from 48.8 index points in March 2021.

“This increase is a lead indicator of recovery of output growth following the easing of restrictions to curtail the spread of the Pandemic.”

MPC explained further that the non-manufacturing PMI fell marginally to 47.3 index points in April 2021 from 47.9 index points in March.

According to the committee, “The employment level component of the manufacturing and non-manufacturing PMIs rose moderately in April 2021 to 46.5 and 48.2 index points from 45.9 and 47.7 index points in March 2021, respectively.”

The Committee highlighted that the moderate fall in headline inflation (year-on-year) to 18.12 per cent in April 2021 from 18.17 per cent in March, following 19 consecutive months of continuous rise.

The development was attributed to the marginal slowdown in food inflation to 22.72 per cent in April 2021 from 22.95 per cent in the previous month.

The bank’s massive interventions in various sectors of the economy were also responsible for stimulating aggregate demand and boost production, particularly for Small and Medium-scale Enterprises.

While the performance of monetary aggregates, the committee explained that the broad money supply grew by 1.15 per cent in April 2021, compared with 0.04 per cent in March 2021.

The outcome was largely driven by growth in net domestic assets, while net foreign assets contracted.

This medium observed that the rise in the net domestic assets reflected the growth in aggregate credit supported by the ongoing broad-based monetary and fiscal stimulus.