Page 34 - RUSRptApr17

Markit Russia Services Business Activity Index posted 56.6 in March , improving from 55.5 seen in February and being well above the 50.0 no-change mark indicating a strong pace of growth. For the first quarter of 2017 overall, the index showed the best pace of expansion since the fourth quarter of 2012.
Together with the growth of manufacturing index in March, Russia Composite Output Index was pushed to 56.3, up from 55.4 seen in February.
“The composite index figure for March reflected solid growth across both sectors, and quarterly data suggested the strongest performance since Q2 2008”, Markit economist Sian Jones commented on March numbers. “With employment and business activity showing improved trends in quarter one, this is a positive step towards a recovery,” he added.
Although there was a fractional dip in sentiment of service providers in March, “confidence over the first quarter as a whole was the best recorded by the survey since the first quarter of 2013,” the report reads.
Panellists in the service sector noted that strong underlying customer demand and new product development were reasons to be optimistic, while the sentiment in manufacturing, meanwhile, reached an almost two-year high.
34 RUSSIA Country Report April 2017 www.intellinews.com