Egypt: The non-oil private sector falls into contractionary territory again in May
The Emirates NBD Egypt Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) backtracked to 49.2 in May from 50.1 in April. The print therefore landed below the 50-threshold which separates contraction from expansion in the non-oil private sector for the ninth month this fiscal year (which ends in June 2018).
The deterioration in May came amid a decrease in new orders which, in turn, led to lower output. Despite this, the rate of job shedding by businesses slowed to a three-month low in May. Moreover, businesses increased their purchasing activity for the eight consecutive month and stocks levels fell. In terms of pricing, input price inflation slowed in May, despite being buffered by higher purchasing prices and staffing costs. Output inflation, on the other hand, accelerated due to a weak pound. Looking ahead, firms were confident in May that output would rise in the next 12 months due to planned business expansions and strong demand.