Tough February for Kenyan firms as demand drops
By GEORGE NGIGI
In Summary
- The Standard Chartered-MNI Business Sentiment Indicator (BSI), a survey that measures business confidence, dropped to a six-month low with a score of 57 down from 63.9 in January.
Kenyan businessmen had a difficult time in February
as demand for their products fell forcing them to ...
scale down their intentions to hire new employees.
scale down their intentions to hire new employees.
The Standard Chartered-MNI
Business Sentiment Indicator (BSI), a survey that measures business
confidence, dropped to a six-month low with a score of 57 down from 63.9
in January.
Analysts at StanChart said the drop reflected a
seasonal dip with businesses having enjoyed busy period in December and
January owing to holiday spending and back-to-school shopping.
“The more negative view of the Kenyan economy
revealed by our February BSI does not correlate with our view that the
economy continues to grow strongly and is likely to see stronger
economic momentum in the second half of 2016,” said Standard Chartered’s
chief economist for Africa, Razia Khan.
Ms Khan pegged her optimism to the implementation
of infrastructure projects which is expected to pick up in the second
half as the Jubilee administration battles to fulfil its election
promises ahead of next year’s polls.
StanChart’s BSI surveys 200 small and large
companies in Nairobi and Mombasa on a monthly basis. The businessmen
said their confidence levels had dropped due to rapid decline in new
orders, shrinking of order backlogs and new fears over the stability of
the shilling.
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