Egypt Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) recorded 46.4 in July, up from 45.2 in June, marking its highest performance in over a year.
The results of the index revealed that the Egyptian non-oil businesses continued to register a decline in new order intakes at the start of the third quarter.
“The rate of contraction eased since June but was still sharp as several panelists found that rising prices led to a drop in client spending,” it added.
According to the data, the latest decrease was seen across all four sectors covered by the survey, namely manufacturing, construction, wholesale & retail and services.
“The Egypt PMI recorded a modest uptick in July, after hitting a two-year low in June, to signal a softer decline in the health of the non-oil economy. While output continued to fall in response to weakening new orders, the rate of contraction slowed for the first time since April,” David Owen, Economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said.
Owen added that good news was also seen in inflation metrics, which dropped sharply at the start of the third quarter as fewer companies saw a rise in input costs. Higher fuel and raw material prices were still often mentioned, although this was partly tempered as lower commodity prices in recent weeks began to alleviate pressure on supplier charges.
“Nevertheless, the demand picture still appears challenging, leading businesses to give a relatively downbeat outlook for the coming year. Output forecasts in July were down to one of the weakest recorded in the series history,” he noted.
The data pointed out that business expectations for the next 12 months remained largely subdued in July. After rising to a five-month high in June, sentiment fell sharply and was one of the weakest on record. Only 13 percent of companies predicted growth of output over the coming year.
Source: Egypt Today Magazine