Economic indicators improve in August

The nation's economy showed signs of a pick-up last month, with the index of leading indicators up 0.9 percent from July, when it fell 0.7 percent, the Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) said yesterday.

The showing signalled a "green light" reading on the economy, which indicates steady growth, following five consecutive months of "yellow-blue light" reflecting a slowdown, the council said.

The council uses a five-level spectrum to gauge domestic economic health, with blue indicating recession, yellow-blue a slowdown, green steady growth, yellow-red a slight overheating and red an absolute overheating.

A survey of manufacturers by the council last month showed that 19 percent of those polled were optimistic about the economic prospects for the next three months, up from 17 percent in the previous month, while the percentage of pessimists fell to 17 percent last month from 23 percent the previous month.

Based on the poll, the council predicted that the country's economic performance will improve in the second half of this year, unless oil prices surge significantly.

The slight optimism was based on the improvement in economic performance last month, with business revenue increasing by 3.8 percent over the previous month, orders rising by 2.4 percent over the month before, and the equipment-utilization rate growing by 1.4 percent over July, the council said.