Uganda PMI Rises

Uganda’s private-sector business activity expanded faster in June than it did in May, buoyed by stronger domestic demand and looser monetary policy, a survey showed on Wednesday, Reuters reported. The Markit Stanbic Bank Uganda purchasing managers’ index rose to 52.8 last month from 51.0 in May. Anything above 50 indicates expansion; anything below, contraction. A Markit statement said, “output, new orders, employment and stocks of purchases” had all contributed to the higher index. “The private sector continues to recover, supported by the easing of the monetary policy,” Jibran Qureishi, East Africa economist at Stanbic Bank, said in a commentary accompanying the survey. Last month, the central Bank of Uganda cut its key lending rate to 10% from 11%, continuing a round of easing that has been running for about a year. The central bank wants to encourage a greater flow of credit to the private sector to lift slowing economic growth. Uganda’s economy expanded 3.9% in the fiscal year to the end of June, below an initial forecast of 5.5%.