DUBAI, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- Emirates NBD, the second biggest lender in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), said Tuesday that the UAE's non-oil private sector posted the strongest quarter performance in two years despite a slight decline in September.
In terms of the Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), a composite indicator designed to give an accurate overview of operating conditions in the non-oil private sector in the Gulf Arab state, "the average in the third quarter 2017 was 56.1, the strongest since the third quarter of 2015," the bank said in an e-mailed press release.
But in Spetember, the seasonally adjusted PMI eased to 55.1 from the 30-month high of 57.3 recorded in the preceding survey, it added.
"Although the purchasing managers' index eased slightly in September, the average reading for the third quarter was the highest in two years, underpinned by strong growth in output and new work," said Khatija Haque, head of MENA Research at Emirates NBD.
According to Emirates NBD, the latest improvement in business conditions was stimulated "by above-average expansions in both output and new orders."
However, "new business from abroad slipped back to contraction, indicating that the recovery was driven by domestic demand," it noted.
"The survey suggests that economic growth accelerated last quarter, and that domestic demand remains solid, despite a relatively modest jobs growth," Haque explained.
On the price front, output charges fell, while input price inflation softened to a four-month low.
Currently, 71 percent of the UAE's GDP is non-oil based.
