Dubai year of discounting ends as firms feel inflation sting

Dubai year of discounting ends as firms feel inflation sting

Dubai year of discounting ends as firms feel inflation sting

August 09 2022 09:53 PM



People shop at Dubai Mall (file). In a sign of improving business conditions in the non-oil private sector, S&P Purchasing Managersق€™ Index for Dubai rose to 56.4 last month from 56.1 in June. Itق€™s been above the 50-mark separating growth from contraction since late 2020.



Bloomberg / Dubai

Companies in Dubai ended a 12-month stretch of discounting in July as cost pressures mounted and the local economy powered ahead.

Competition in the emirate has meant that non-energy private firms didn’t always pass on higher costs even as their margins suffered. But while input cost inflation eased in July after four months of gains, businesses “reported a stable trend in prices charged for goods and services,” according to a report from S&P Global on Tuesday.

In a sign of improving business conditions in the non-oil private sector, S&P Purchasing Managers’ Index for Dubai rose to 56.4 last month from 56.1 in June. It’s been above the 50-mark separating growth from contraction since late 2020.

“Input price inflation remained among the fastest on record despite slowing from June’s 53-month high,” David Owen, economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence,