Kuwait’s record performance tempered by costs

Kuwait’s record performance tempered by costs

Rising inflation and increasing staffing costs are weighing heavily on Kuwait’s non-oil business sector despite growth, the latest business sentiment survey has revealed. The seasonally adjusted S&P Global Kuwait purchasing managers’ index (PMI) revealed strong growth, with competitive pricing by businesses helping to attract new customers. The index was up at 53.2 for March from […]

Competitive pricing attracts customers

PMI rises to 53.2 from 52.7

Best performance since 2018

Rising inflation and increasing staffing costs are weighing heavily on Kuwait’s non-oil business sector despite growth, the latest business sentiment survey has revealed.

The seasonally adjusted S&P Global Kuwait purchasing managers’ index (PMI) revealed strong growth, with competitive pricing by businesses helping to attract new customers.

The index was up at 53.2 for March from 52.7 the previous month, above the 50 benchmark that separates growth from contraction.

You might also like:Economic indicators from every GCC country

Outside of the peak pandemic swings, this was the best performance since the series’s history began in mid-2018.

However, Andrew Harker, economics director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, cautioned that staff costs in Kuwait increased at the fastest rate on record, while the index also recorded the sharpest rise in selling prices for almost 2.5 years.

As a result, he said “the ability