Bangladesh, Aug. 10 -- Bangladesh's private-sector economy gathered pace in July, with a sharp rebound in manufacturing and continued growth in agriculture and services pushing the country's Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) to its highest level in recent months and signalling a broader strengthening of economic activity.

The PMI rose 4.9 points from June to 57.8 in July, indicating a stronger pace of expansion, according to the latest Bangladesh PMI report released on Sunday by the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI), Dhaka and Policy Exchange Bangladesh (PEB).

The improvement was led overwhelmingly by manufacturing, while construction continued to contract marginally despite showing signs of recovery.

Three of the fo...