Data for the first month of the second quarter suggested that Ghana’s private sector had been improving steadily. Customer demand increased, and the reduction of inflationary pressures encouraged the placement of additional orders. This resulted in increased business activity. Businesses increased hiring and purchasing in order to fulfil more new orders.
In April, the S&P Global Ghana Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) registered 51.3, up from 50.9 in March and above the no-change threshold of 50.0 for the third consecutive month. The most recent score indicated a little improvement in the nation’s private sector’s health, the largest since December 2021.
New business increased significantly and quickly in April, with the rate of growth accelerating to a 15-month high. According to reports, customer demand increased as a result of a more moderate inflationary environment.
The pricing indices from the most recent survey served as an example of this. While businesses kept raising their selling prices, the pace of inflation slowed for the sixth straight month after setting a survey record in November of last year and was the lowest since June 2021.
The trend in product prices corresponded to that for input costs. Input prices as a whole climbed at the slowest rate in a year and a half, with smaller growth observed for both purchase prices and employee costs.
Businesses attributed rising buying prices in areas with weaker currencies and higher taxes. Nevertheless, other studies claimed that increased cedi stability slowed the rate of inflation. In the meantime, wages were frequently increased to assist workers in covering rising living expenses.
Source: b&ft
