PMIs - A closer look

Over the last three months, the Emirates NBD UAE and Saudi Arabia Purchasing Managers’ Indices (PMIs) and the Dubai Economy Tracker Index (DETI) have pointed to accelerating growth in the two biggest GCC economies.  For many commentators and residents, this has been difficult to reconcile with lower oil prices, government spending cuts, lack of employment opportunities, and a perceived ‘slowdown’ in economic activity. 

In this note, we shed some light on what exactly the PMIs are telling us about economic activity and explore how well they reflect real GDP growth.  As the Dubai Economy Tracker Index is calculated in the same way as the country PMIs, we have included it in this analysis.   

Click here to view the full report.