Dubai economy recovery continues; March saw sharpest rise in prices – PMI

Dubai economy recovery continues; March saw sharpest rise in prices – PMI

As Dubai's non-oil economy continues to recover, global supply delays and increasing input shortages in March have led to the sharpest rise in prices in 28 months, according to a survey published on Sunday.In the seasonally adjusted IHS Markit Dubai Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), which measures changes in output, new orders, employment, suppliers' delivery times and stocks of purchased goods, the emirate was rated 51.0 in March, up fractionally from 50.9 in February."Global supply difficulties washed up on Dubai's shores in March, as the reduction in input availability led to the sharpest rise in prices for 28 months. This will constrain profit margins as competitive pressures and efforts to aid the recovery in demand led firms to lower output charges," David Owen, Economist at IHS Markit said. Despite the input price inflation in March, output continued to expand, while new work picked up after a slight decrease in February. Firms also remained confident of a rise in business activity for the rest of 2021 as the economy continued to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, the report said.At the sector level, construction and travel & tourism saw improvements to their headline readings in March. According to the IHS Markit survey, construction firms