Emerging economies except Russia witness growth: HSBC EMI

The HSBC Emerging Markets Index said that China and India reached five-and-three-month highs respectively, but the growth rates remained only modest and far below typical rates of expansion seen prior to the global financial crisis.

The Dollar Business Bureau Emerging-Markets-The-Dollar-Business All the emerging economies except Russia have witnessed the fastest growth in the last five months as emerging markets collectively continued to significantly underperform against the developed nations, said the HSBC Emerging Markets Index (EMI). The EMI rose from 51.2 to 51.9 the quickest rate of expansion since September 2014. The HSBC composite index for India, which maps both manufacturing and services, stood at 53.5, whereas for China it was 51.8, Brazil (51.3) and Russia (44.7). The Index also said that China and India reached five-and-three-month highs respectively, but the growth rates remained only modest and far below typical rates of expansion seen prior to the global financial crisis. In Brazil, the corporate sector output registered growth for the first time in five months. On the other hand, Russia’s non-government output fell drastically at a rate which was last witnessed in May 2009 as sanctions from the West and the oil price rout continued to hit the economy. Amid evidence of slower new order growth, manufacturing production in India expanded at a weaker rate during February. Prices paid for inputs by goods producers decreased for the first time since March 2009. Manufacturers in China saw a renewed improvement in overall operating conditions in February, with output and total new orders both expanding at faster rates. However, latest data indicated that external demand was relatively weak, with new export business declining for the first time in ten months. Meanwhile, average input costs declined sharply over the month.