03.12.201905:21:00UTC+00Saudi Arabia Non-Oil Private Sector Growth Accelerates

Saudi Arabia's non-oil private sector gained momentum in November, survey results from IHS Markit showed Tuesday.

The Purchasing Managers' Index rose to 58.3 in November from 57.8 in October. The reading signaled the fastest expansion in over four years.

New orders logged its sharpest rise since April 2015. Although output increased in November, the pace of expansion was the slowest in four months.

Further, data showed that November's rise in employment was only marginal and unchanged from October's increase.

On the price front, data revealed a third increase in charges for goods and services in the past four months but the rise was marginal. Overall input prices continued to increase, however, the rate of inflation eased for the second straight month.

Confidence among non-oil private sector firms towards future output remained strong in November.

"November's PMI data for Saudi Arabia revealed a stronger improvement in underlying economic conditions and, when coupled with the recent improvements in growth momentum, point to a faster rate of non-oil GDP expansion for the fourth quarter of 2019," Amritpal Virdee, an economist at IHS Markit, said.