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dubai — The private sector in Dubai gained momentum in first quarter of 2017 as the business conditions improved in key economic sectors with sharp rise in new orders and increase in employment.
The latest Emirates NBD Dubai Economy Tracker data signalled a sharp improvement in business conditions across the emirate’s private sector economy, with output, new orders, employment and stocks of purchases all expanding at a faster pace than in the preceding month.
The seasonally adjusted Emirates NBD Dubai Economy Tracker Index — a composite indicator designed to give an accurate overview of operating conditions in the non-oil private sector economy — rose to 56.6 in March, up from 56.2 in February.
The latest reading was indicative of the second-sharpest upturn in business conditions for over two years. As a result, the average for the first quarter (56.7) was the sharpest since first quarter of
The March data is consistent with sharp improvements in business conditions across Dubai’s non-oil private sector economy, with output, new orders and employment all expanding at a faster pace than the previous month Tim Fox, head of Research and chief economist at Emirates NBD
2015. A reading of below 50.0 indicates that the non-oil private sector economy is generally declining; above 50.0, that it is generally expanding. A reading of 50.0 signals no change. “The March data is consistent with sharp improvements in business conditions across Dubai’s non-oil private sector economy, with output, new orders and employment all expanding at a faster pace than the previous month,” Tim Fox, head of Research and chief economist at Emirates NBD, said.
Wholesale and retail, travel and tourism and construction remained the best performing sub-sector monitored by the survey issued on Monday.
New business increased for the thirteenth month in succession. Furthermore, the rate of expansion climbed to the sharpest in over two years. Survey respondents linked the increase to generally favourable economic conditions, more construction projects, and successful promotional activities.
Business confidence regarding growth prospects over the coming 12 months remained strongly optimistic in March, but the degree of optimism eased to its weakest in seven months, despite increasing output. At the sub-sector level, business confidence improved across construction firms, but moderated elsewhere. The survey further indicated that input price inflation remained modest across the private sector in March. All the three monitored sub-sectors noted a rise in input costs, led by wholesale and retail. However, output charges fell again, with the rate of decline little-changed from the prior month and marginal overall.
There were divergent trends recorded across the key sub-sectors; travel and tourism companies raised their average selling prices, while construction and wholesale and retail firms reduced output charges. Discounts were generally offered in order to attract customers amid reports of intense competition.
— business@khaleejtimes.com