NBS adopts official gauge for private sector

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has adopted the Stanbic IBTC Nigeria Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI) as its private sector-based index for the country.

Statistician General of the Federation and Director-General, NBS, Dr. Yemi Kale, who disclosed this, said the bureau decided to adopt the PMI because it was confident that it meets global standards of measurement. The index was compiled by Markit and launched on Monday.

Kale commended Stanbic IBTC for again taking the lead in the financial services industry with the PMI launch. He said his agency is pleased to partner with the bank on the index and assured that it will continue to extend the necessary assistance and support to ensure the PMI is robust.

“We looked at the methodology, asked questions and we are extremely happy with the PMI. And to show the extent to which we are happy with it, we have officially adopted the Stanbic IBTC Nigeria PMI as government’s PMI,” Kale said.

The index, according to Stanbic IBTC, will reflect figures derived from the survey of the business landscape. The index, among other things, will measure private sector operating status and thereby provide an early indication of business conditions in the country. It is a composite index, calculated as a weighted average of five individual sub-components: New Orders (30%), Output (25%), Employment (20%), Suppliers’ Delivery Times (15%) and Stocks of Purchases (10%).

In his address, Chief Executive Officer, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Mr Yinka Sanni, said the availability of data has been an invaluable input for individuals and businesses to weigh in environmental, political, economic, financial and capital market opportunities and issues in taking strategic positions for the future.

“Giving the importance of data and acknowledging the good works the National Bureau of Statistics has done over the years to improve collection and dissemination of statistics, Stanbic IBTC looked to identify a need in the space,” Mr Sanni said, adding, “We recognised that Nigeria needs accurate, timely and reliable data by which individuals and corporates can quickly gauge the temperature and momentum of economic activity.”

The bank chief said Stanbic IBTC then engaged Markit, the global diversified provider of financial information services, to help compile the business surveys and economic indices for the PMI.

Stanbic IBTC’s Head, Corporate and Transactional Banking, Yewande Sadiku, said the PMI is premised on providing the earliest, most accurate and most comprehensive suite of economic indicators in the country that will help policy makers and businesses in making well informed decisions. Equally, the key indicators will provide a solid basis for investment strategies and asset allocation.

“With government’s increasing desire for a private sector-led economy, reliable market data is essential to the attainment of this aspiration. As a developmental partner in the Nigerian economy, and in line with our brand promise to move individuals and businesses forward, Stanbic IBTC will continue to leverage the 153-year experience and expertise of its mother brand, the Standard Bank Group, to develop relevant and bespoke products and services that will benefit our customers, Nigerians and the economy,” Sadiku stated.

Highlighting some of the key features of the PMI, Director, Economics Indices, Markit, Mr Richard Willis, said the PMI is widely accepted globally by leading economies because it is accurate, timely and has a wide sector coverage, which includes agriculture, manufacturing, services, construction, and retail services.

Read also: Inflation goes to 9.3% –NBS report

“The PMI surveys are based on facts, not opinion, and are the first indicators of economic conditions to be published each month. Moreover, the same methodology is applied across all PMI surveys to facilitate international comparisons in the over 30 economies which the PMI covers, including the United States, the Eurozone, Japan, the United Kingdom, and Germany,” Mr Willis said.

At 53.9, the maiden reading of the Stanbic IBTC Nigeria PMI suggested that private sector expansion gathered speed in November, while signalling modest improvements in business conditions. The PMI will subsequently be published on the third working day of each month.

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