Dubai: Dubai’s private sector is ticking the right boxes with gains in sectors pushing a key economic indicator to its second best showing in two years. The Emirates NBD Economy Tracker Index showed a reading of 56.6 for March and up from 56.2 a month prior to that, as improvements were sighted in new orders placed and for stock purchases.
The average for the first quarter (56.7) was the sharpest since Q1 2015.
According to Tim Fox, Head of Research & Chief Economist at Emirates NBD: “The March data is consistent with sharp improvements in business conditions across Dubai’s non-oil private sector economy, with output, new orders and employment all expanding at a faster pace than the previous month.”
The latest numbers also indicate a “renewed increase in overall employment”. But the pace of job growth is still relatively subdued, Emirates NBD notes.
A robust and accelerated expansion of business activity was at the heart of the latest upturn in operating conditions. Furthermore, the overall pace of output growth in March accelerated from February’s three month low. Anecdotal evidence cited improved underlying demand conditions, alongside successful promotional strategies and more ongoing projects.
The best performing sub-sectors were wholesale and retail (index at 57.1), followed by travel and tourism (55.3) and construction (54.8).