Russian Services Activity Loses Growth Momentum

(RTTNews) - The Russian service sector activity broadly stagnated in March amid a slowdown in new order growth, survey results from S&P Global showed on Thursday.

The services purchasing managers' index, or PMI, dropped to 50.1 in March from 50.5 in February. However, a reading above 50 indicates expansion.

New orders grew at the slowest pace in eight months in March due to reduced purchasing power from customers. As a result, companies reduced their workforce numbers for the first time since July 2023 and the sharpest in just over two years.

On the price front, input price inflation ticked higher in March, led by greater wage bills and increased supplier and logistics prices. Meanwhile, selling price inflation eased to the lowest level since early 2021.

Looking ahead, Russian service providers remained confident about output expectations over the next year, underpinned by plans for the expansion of service lines and hopes of an improvement in demand conditions.

The composite output index dropped to 49.1 in March from 50.4 in February, indicating a fresh decline in business activity among the Russian private sector firms.