Kenya’s private sector activity plunged in March to its lowest level since November 2017 as the global coronavirus pandemic hit consumer demand and forced businesses to shed jobs and cut back on their operations.
The Market Stanbic Bank Kenya Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI)—which tracks business performance in the manufacturing and services sector-- fell to 34.8 in April from 37.5 in March from 49.0 in February.
Kenya’s private sector activity plunged in March to its lowest level since November 2017 as the global coronavirus pandemic hit consumer demand and forced businesses to shed jobs and cut back on their operations.
The Market Stanbic Bank Kenya Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI)—which tracks business performance in the manufacturing and services sector-- fell to 34.8 in April from 37.5 in March from 49.0 in February.
Readings above 50.0 signal growth in business and the latest data is just shy of the record low of 34.4 reported in October 2017, just weeks after Kenya had come out of two presidential elections.
April’s number was the second-lowest in the survey’s history, highlighting the impact of the virus on business and the economy.
This has prompted the Treasury to forecast that the Kenyan economy will grow by as little as one percent this year, compared with a pre-pandemic forecast of about six percent, due to the impact of the disease.
