Overview
Monthly figures published by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka indicate that both the services and manufacturing sectors recorded PMI readings below the 50 mark in April, a conventional cut-off that denotes contraction. The services sector PMI fell to 46.7 in April from 59.4 in March. The manufacturing PMI declined to 42.6 in April, down from 66.7 in March.
Services sector details
The services-sector subindexes reflected broad-based weakness. New business decreased to 48.9 in April from 57.6 in March, and employment in the sector moved down to 44.4 from 54.2. The backlog of work was recorded at 48.8, slightly higher than March's 48.1 reading but still below the expansionary threshold. Despite the declines in current activity measures, expectations for future activity in the services sector rose to 65.9 in April from 57.1 in the previous month.
Manufacturing sector details
Manufacturing showed pronounced drops across several components. New orders fell to 36.4 in April from 69.9 in March, while production declined sharply to 30.5 from 68.8. Employment in manufacturing eased to 47.0, down from 55.9 in March. Stocks of purchases reduced to 44.0 from 59.9. Suppliers' delivery time remained elevated at 68.7 in April, though it was lower than March's 75.5 reading.
Context and reading the readings
The reported PMIs and subcomponents present a consistent picture across both sectors for April: measures tied to incoming orders, output and hiring all moved lower month-to-month. At the same time, the services sector showed a notable uptick in expectations for activity. The Central Bank's released data provide the numerical snapshot; they do not include commentary beyond the reported index levels and their month-to-month changes.
Summary takeaway
April's PMIs show contraction in both services and manufacturing, with several core indicators - new business, production and employment - weakening sharply from March's readings. Expectations in services improved even as most current activity metrics deteriorated. These index results are the figures published by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka and reflect the survey responses for April.