Standard Bank Mozambique announced that the Purchasing Manager's Index (PMI) in the country dropped 50 points in June to 52 points, down from 52.4 in May.

The drop in the PMI was due to the slowdown in new orders from customers which reduced for the first time in three months. And the bank notes that at the cause of this is the rise in prices across the economy as a whole.

Nevertheless, the report says it is a positive result, although "modest" since values above 50 show an improvement in companies' overall conditions for doing business.

The bank reports that hiring continued and there was "the largest decrease in order backlogs since the beginning of the year.

Standard Bank Mozambique's PMI results from the responses of purchasing managers from a group of about 400 private companies.