Page 33 - RusRPTAug19

down from 8.6% the previous month and almost matched the consumer price inflation of 4.1%, which is also on a downward trend.
4.3 Industrial sectors and trade 4.3.1 Producers PMI
Russia’s manufacturing PMI in June falls to lowest in a year. The seasonally adjusted IHS Markit Russia Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index fell to 48.6 in June, down from 49.8 in May and signalling a slight deterioration in the health of the Russian manufacturing sector, Markit said in a press release on July 1.
The latest headline figure was the lowest since July 2018 and indicated downward pressure on growth at the end of the second quarter of 2019 as the result is below the 50 no-change mark.
Markit reports that manufacturing sector deteriorated for the second successive month, due to downturns in output and new business.
“The slowdown in client demand resulted in a further fall in workforce numbers and a faster depletion in backlogs. Firms also reacted to lacklustre demand by increasing output charges at the slowest pace since March 2018, with some highlighting discounting and promotional activity,” Markit said.
The slowdown in the forward-looking Markit survey mirrors a sharp slowdown in May in Russia’s industrial production, according to Rosstat. Russian industrial output slowed to 0.9% year-on-year in May from 4.6% y/y posted in April, according to the official figures. Industry in the reporting month underperformed analysts’ consensus expectation of 1.4% growth.
In general Russia’s household and corporate activity remained sluggish in the first quarter, says ING. May data on household income and consumption is slightly better than expected although this could be down to one-off factors. Corporate activity is clearly subdued but may see some support from the scheduled pick up in state spending in the second half of this year, ING said in a note.
33 RUSSIA Country Report August 2019 www.intellinews.com