PARIS: Emerging market growth continued to slow in the third month of the year dragged by much weaker Brazilian and Russian performance, which may have halved the first quarter GDP growth of the group from the pre-crisis levels, according to an HSBC report.
The HSBC emerging market index for March dropped to a two-month low of 51.6 in March, from 51.9 in February, a Markit press release on Wednesday showed. The average over the first quarter stood at 51.6, broadly in line with the Q4 last year average of 51.5.
The survey data suggest the emerging markets collectively saw economic growth remain in the doldrums in the first quarter. GDP looks set to have risen at an annual rate of around 5%, half the pace of expansion seen prior to the global financial crisis,” said Chris Williamson, Markit’s chief economist.
The investment bank said the Brazilian output saw the sharpest fall since April 2009 and input price inflation has quickened to a seven-month high for emerging markets at the end of Q1.
HSBC said the slowdown reflected a weaker rise in manufacturing output, where the rate of growth was at a 10-month low. Services activity increased at the fastest rate in 2015 so far, albeit only a modest overall pace, according the report.
