Lebanon PMI Reached in March Its Lowest Level in More Than 2 Years

During the third month of the year, the private sector’s economy witnessed the fastest contraction in 26 months. The BLOM Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) registered a reading of 45, declining further below the neutral mark of 50 points separating economic contraction from growth. The gauge’s deterioration accelerated since the beginning of 2016 on the back of worsening companies’ output and new orders, which recorded their sharpest falls since January 2014. Commenting on the March 2016 PMI results, Dr Ali Bolbol, Economic Advisor at BLOMINVEST Bank, said: “It seems that ‘the chicken have finally come home to roost’ as far as the Lebanese economy is concerned. The PMI drop in March 2016 to 45, the lowest in 26 months, indicates that the Lebanese private sector’s flexibility to withstand repeated shocks is perhaps coming to an end, no doubt made worse by the ongoing political conflict with the Gulf States. What is also surprising is the deterioration in the sub-indices across the board: output, new orders, exports and employment. If anything, this reading should be taken by the politicians as a serious wake-up call to end their differences and put the Lebanese political and economic house back in order”.

Full details about March’s results are available in the BLOM PMI reports below:

LB_PMI_ENG_Press Release

LB_PMI_ENG_Report

 

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