Business conditions worsen for eighth successive month, albeit at the slowest pace in three months
The thinnest of silver linings: Business conditions in Egypt’s non-oil sector worsened again in May, but the rate of decline was the slowest in three months, according to the Markit / Emirates NBD Egypt PMI, with the gauge reading 47.6, up from 46.9 in April. The main drivers behind the contraction this time around are FX concerns, as purchase prices increased at a survey-record pace and tariffs rose sharply as a result. May saw declines in output and new orders, and payroll numbers decreased for the twelfth consecutive month. Jean-Paul Pigat, Senior Economist at Emirates NBD, looks at the positives, saying it is “encouraging to see signs that the downturn has started to ease, as tentative as those indications may be. But the survey also continues to point to fundamentally weak demand conditions across the economy, which in light of the ongoing FX shortage, is likely to persist.”