Africa-Press – Mozambique. Mozambique’s private sector economy fell back into decline in August, as Covid-19 restrictions were tightened in response to a rise in cases, Standard Bank has announced.
In August, the value of the bank’s Purchasing Managers’ Index dropped to “a seven-month low of 47.9 in August, down from 51.8 in July and posting below the 50.0 level for the first time in five months”, the analysis reads.
“The reading signalled a moderate deterioration in the health of the private sector economy as output, new orders and input inventories all decreased since July,” it adds.
Confidence in companies remained strong, but the number of jobs increased at a slower pace, the document notes.
According to the Standard Bank analysis, “the downturn was overwhelmingly linked by surveyed firms to a tightening of Covid-19 measures, including curfew hours, temporary business closures and the banning of private social gatherings”.
The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) published by Standard Bank is compiled from the responses of purchasing directors at around 400 private sector companies.
Mozambique had, by Sunday, a cumulative total of 1,878 deaths among its 147,923 registered Covid-19 cases, of which 92.8% are accounted recovered and 112 were hospitalised.
July saw the highest number of deaths in Mozambique since the pandemic was declared, corresponding to the peak of the third wave, with 556 deaths – almost 30% of the total.
