The seasonally adjusted Kagiso Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), which is often used as an indicator of the health of the manufacturing sector, has risen to 60.4 points in February. This is the highest level that the indicator has reached since March 2007.

Kagiso’s statement says the upward trend of the index during the first two months of 2010 points to faster growth in actual factory production at the start of the year.

According to the statement, this suggests that manufacturing in all likelihood remains the key sector driving the overall growth recovery in the first quarter of 2010.

Reported by Business Day