The private sector in Zambia eased the slowdown imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic during the month of September following government’s decision to ease some restrictions to stimulate economic activity, results of a survey showed on Monday.
While the business environment remains volatile due to the pandemic, the decline in business activities was much slower during the month of September compared to previous months.
According to the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) conducted by Stanbic Banda Zambia, the rate of the slowdown eased at its lowest during the month due to the strengthening of the business confidence.
The slowdown rose to 46.6 in September from 43.4 in August although it was still below the 50.0 mark, a benchmark for improvement in business conditions.
Victor Chileshe, Head of Global Markets at Stanbic Bank Zambia said the reading continued to signal a deterioration in business conditions at the end of the third quarter of 2020 but the decline was the softest since February.
“The rise in this month’s PMI is an indication of the improving business conditions as economic activity peaked since the outbreak of COVID-19 earlier this year,” he said in a statement.
According to him, a number of indices in the survey were at their highest since the outbreak of the pandemic, with output decreasing at the slowest rate in seven months.
“On the employment front, there were signs of imminent stabilization as the rate of job cuts softened for the second month running,” he said.
