May 2, 2017/CBN

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1.0 Introduction
The Statistics Department, Central Bank of Nigeria conducts a monthly survey of purchasing and supply executives of manufacturing and non-manufacturing organizations in 13 locations in Nigeria: two states in each of the six geo-political zones, and the FCT (Fig. 1). The survey results are used to
compute the monthly Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI). The survey for this month was conducted April 18th to 24th, 2017 with a total of 1,743 responses received from a sample of 1,950 respondents, representing a response rate of 89.4 per cent. The Bank makes no representation regarding the individual companies, other than that stated by the respondents. The data contained herein further provides input for policy decisions.

Data and Method of Presentation
The Manufacturing and Non-Manufacturing PMI Report on businesses is based on data compiled from purchasing and supply executives. Survey responses indicate whether there is change or no change in the level of business activities in the current month compared with the previous month. For each of the indicators measured, this report shows the diffusion index of the responses.

The diffusion index is computed as the percent of positive responses plus one-half of the percent of those reporting no change. The composite PMI is then computed as the weighted average of five diffusion indices for manufacturing sector: production level, new orders, supplier delivery time, employment level and raw materials inventory, with assigned weights of 25%, 30%, 15%, 10% and 20%, respectively.

The composite PMI for non-manufacturing sector is computed from four diffusion indices: business activity, new orders, employment level and raw materials inventory, with equal weights of 25% each.

A composite PMI above 50 points indicates that the manufacturing/non-manufacturing economy is generally expanding, 50 points indicates no change and below 50 points indicates that it is generally declining. The sub-sectors reporting growth are listed in the order of highest to lowest growth. For the sub-sectors reporting contraction/decline, they are listed in the order of the highest to the lowest decline.

Manufacturing PMI Report
Manufacturing PMI for the month of April 2017 showing recovery, production level growing faster; new orders and raw materials inventories growing from contraction; employment level is declining at a slower rate; while supplier delivery time is struggling to catch up

The Manufacturing PMI stood at 51.1 index points in April 2017, indicating expansion in the manufacturing sector after three months of contraction (Fig. 3 and Table 1).

Ten of the sixteen subsectors reported growth in the review month in the following order: appliances & components; food, beverage & tobacco products; textile, apparel, leather & footwear; chemical & pharmaceutical products; cement; nonmetallic mineral products; printing & related support activities; furniture & related products; electrical equipment and plastics & rubber products.

The paper products; primary metal; computer & electronic products; fabricated metal products; petroleum & coal products and transportation equipment sub sectors reported decline in the review period.

Production Level
The production level index for manufacturing sector expanded for the second consecutive month in April 2017. The index at 58.5 points indicated an increase in production at a faster rate when compared to the 50.8 points in the previous month.

Thirteen manufacturing sub-sectors recorded increase in production level during the review month in the following order: chemical & pharmaceutical products; electrical equipment; transportation equipment; food, beverage & tobacco products; appliances & components; textile, apparel, leather & footwear; cement; nonmetallic mineral products; printing & related support activities; furniture & related products; plastics & rubber products; computer & electronic products and fabricated metal products.

The petroleum & coal products sub-sector remained unchanged, while the primary metal and paper products sub-sectors recorded declines in production in April 2017 (Table 2). 

New Orders
At 50.1 points, the index grew after three consecutive months of decline. Six sub-sectors reported growth in new orders in the following order: appliances & components; textile, apparel, leather & footwear; food, beverage & tobacco products; cement; printing & related support activities and nonmetallic mineral products.

The plastics & rubber products and transportation equipment subsectors remained unchanged, while the remaining eight sub-sectors declined in the order: paper products; computer & electronic products; petroleum & coal products; primary metal; electrical equipment; furniture & related products; fabricated metal products and chemical & pharmaceutical products (Table 3). 

Supplier Delivery Time
At 47.5 index points, the supplier delivery time index for the manufacturing sector worsened after a month of improvement.

Ten sub-sectors recorded worse suppliers’ delivery time in the following order: transportation equipment; textile, apparel, leather & footwear; printing & related support activities; cement; furniture & related products; fabricated metal products; paper products; nonmetallic mineral products; chemical & pharmaceutical products and food, beverage & tobacco products.

The plastics & rubber products and appliances & components sub-sectors remained unchanged, while the electrical equipment; petroleum & coal products; computer & electronic products; and primary metal sub-sectors recorded improvement in delivery time in April 2017 (Table 4).

Employment Level
Employment level index in April 2017 stood at 46.6 points, indicating a slowing decline in employment level after twenty-six consecutive months of decline.

Of the sixteen sub-sectors, twelve recorded declines in employment in the following order: computer & electronic products; electrical equipment; cement; fabricated metal products; petroleum & coal products; nonmetallic mineral products; printing & related support activities; textile, apparel, leather & footwear; chemical & pharmaceutical products; plastics & rubber products; food, beverage & tobacco products and paper products.

The appliances & components and transportation equipment remained unchanged, while the primary metal and furniture & related products sub-sectors recorded growth during the review period (Table 5) 

Raw Materials Inventory
At 50.6 index points, raw materials inventory grew after three consecutive months of decline. Of the sixteen sub-sectors, six recorded growth in raw materials inventories in the order: paper products; Cement; plastics & rubber products; chemical & pharmaceutical products; printing & related support activities and fabricated metal products.

The computer & electronic products; nonmetallic mineral products; primary metal and transportation equipment sub-sectors remained unchanged, while the remaining six sub-sectors recorded lower in inventories in the order: paper products; Cement; plastics & rubber products; chemical & pharmaceutical products; printing & related support activities and fabricated metal products (Table 6).