Business conditions in Egypt’s non-oil private sector deteriorated in December, according to December’s PMI reading, which came in 48.3. That drop came just a month after the expansion recorded in November, when PMI was 50.7. That said: The average reading over 4Q2017 was the highest in two years. “Signs of economic stability and increased capital investment plans underpinned strong business confidence during December. In terms of inflation, rates of increase in input and output prices eased and registered comfortably below their respective long-run averages.” The latest deterioration was driven by declines in output, new orders, and new foreign business, according to the report. “The pace of contraction was gentler than seen over most of the past several years, future sentiment remains high, and job shedding slowed to a 28-month low, boding well for 2018,” Daniel Richards, MENA Economist at Emirates NBD, commented.