After three consecutive months of contraction, the country’s economy returned to expansion in October. For the first time since June, the four main sectors of the country’s economy – agriculture, manufacturing, construction and services – returned to expansion together in October. However, the construction sector returned to contraction again in November. The remaining three sectors, however, are still in expansion. This month’s overall Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) value increased by 6.5 points compared to the previous October to 62.2 points. The country’s economy’s highest value was seen in November after the student-public movement began in July.

The November PMI was jointly released by the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) and Policy Exchange Bangladesh (PEB) yesterday. They release this index every month. If the PMI value measured within 100 is below 50, it is assumed that the country’s economy is in a contractionary phase. And if it is above 50, it is understood that the economy is in an expansionary phase.

PEB and MCCI said that PMI is a pioneering initiative that provides timely and accurate analysis of the country’s economic situation and helps businessmen, investors and policymakers make informed decisions. The PMI value was prepared with the support of the UK government and the technical assistance of the Singapore Institute of Purchasing and Materials Management (SIPMM).

The November PMI showed that the PMI value in the manufacturing sector increased by 4.3 points compared to the previous month. The manufacturing sector’s score this month is 60.9. The services sector increased by 7.1 points to 64. The agriculture sector has improved the most. This sector increased by 14.1 points in November compared to the previous month and reached 67.2 points, which was 53.1 in October.

Although the economy of the manufacturing, services and agriculture sectors is on the path of improvement, the construction sector is on the path of deterioration. This sector has returned to the trend of contraction, decreasing by 0.5 points from 50.1 points in October. However, according to the PMI value, the country’s economy is on the path of improvement compared to the previous month.

The PMI report says that the reason for the construction sector’s return to the trend of contraction is that the sector has contracted due to input costs and pending purchase orders. However, the indices of new business, construction activities and employment are on the trend of expansion.

Regarding the November PMI value, the report says that the economy has expanded for the past two months after contracting for three consecutive months. Despite the positive outlook, the economy is still facing obstacles due to political uncertainty and protests in factories.

The Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) and Policy Exchange Bangladesh (PEB) started publishing the PMI values ​​since December last year. However, it was made public only in February this year. According to their report, the country’s overall economy was indicating expansion from the beginning, which reached a record 70.1 in May. However, since then, the PMI value started declining and it fell to 36.9 points in July. At that time, the values ​​of all sectors collapsed due to the student and public movements across the country demanding reform of the quota system in government jobs. Later, after the fall of the Awami League-led government on August 5, the country’s economy gradually started recovering. In this vein, the PMI value rose to 43.5 in August, 49.7 in September and 55.7 in October. This value increased further to 62.2 points in November.