Egypt’s non-oil private sector conditions worsen again in December

Egypt’s non-oil private sector conditions worsen again in December

Egypt’s non-oil private sector conditions remained weak in December due to slowed down demand that led to sharper decline in activity and new orders, according to the S&P Global Egypt Purchasing Managers’ Index™’s (PMI™) survey posted on January 4th.

However, the operating conditions slightly rose as the headline seasonally adjusted S&P Global Egypt PMI recorded 48.5 in December from 48.4 in November, which is still below the 50-point threshold, the data showed.

The survey also highlighted that the Egyptian pound weakness and the continuous supply constraints were significant factors in this sharp decline, causing businesses to experience a sharp increase in input costs as well as a decrease in consumer spending.

On the bright side, employment at non-oil companies increased in December for the first time since September, with projections for future output showing a slight improvement from the record low reached in November.

To increase capacity, businesses hired more people, in part due to increases in outstanding business in each of the previous five months. As a result, increased employment enabled businesses to maintain relatively constant backlogs of work in December.

The data also show a deteriorating decline in new order volumes in December, which respondents frequently attributed to rising inflation and currency issues.

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