Saudi non-oil economy still running hot with more jobs added across sectors, with March PMI at 58.7

Saudi non-oil economy still running hot with more jobs added across sectors, with March PMI at 58.7

Dubai: The Saudi non-oil private sector economy is marching into higher growth during March, signalling more rapid job creation and spending by businesses. There was one catch though – Saudi firms are ‘struggling’ to pass on their higher costs onto their clients, according to the latest PMI (Purchasing Managers Index) data from Riyad Bank. In fact, selling prices rose only ‘marginally’ in March, which is attributed to the heavy competition as well as pushback from consumers. The big positive is on job creation – “Staffing levels have risen across all sectors and the growth in employment was among the strongest seen in the past five years,” said Naif Al-Ghaith, Chief Economist at Riyad Bank. “Business conditions remain strongly positive at the end of the first quarter of 2023 as improving market conditions and increased development spending helped to boost demand in the non-oil private sector. Both output and new orders have expanded sharply, adding pressure on capacity at non-oil companies.” The March PMI reading for the Saudi economy – which will be bolstered by likely higher oil prices from the latest 500,000 barrels a day cut from May – comes to 58.7, down slightly on the 59.8 in February, which