The economy shows a positive trend now after a contraction in the July-August period as the manufacturing sector returned to expansion in September.

The Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dhaka (MCCI), and Policy Exchange Bangladesh (PEB) revealed in this report on the basis of the Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI).

The report stated that after July and August, the economy continued to contract in September. But, the rate of contraction slowed down compared to August. Compared to August, the PMI increased by 6.2 points in September.

The PMI index was 49.7 in September, which was 43.5 in August. A PMI index value below 50 means that the economy is contracting.

This index is formulated out of a total of 100 marks. The Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce (MCCI) and think tank Policy Exchange jointly prepare this index every month based on the views of supply chain managers or their equivalents in firms across industries.

The September index suggests that the economy is slowly improving compared to August. The situation is normalizing, although there are still challenges in business. The overall economy has been contracting for three consecutive months.

In other words, the political instability created in the country since the month of July continues even after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government on August 5.

This PMI index is being formulated on the basis of four main sectors of the economy.

These are agriculture, manufacturing, construction, and services. The report shows that only the manufacturing sector returned to expansion in September. The remaining three sectors are still in contraction mode.