Companies in Egypt are strongly optimistic about their growth prospects, according to September’s reading of the Emirates NBD PMI compiled by Markit. The index overall slipped to 47.4, a three-month low, because of reductions in new orders and output and accelerated job losses. A potentially worrying sign is that new export orders declined for the first time since March, which panelists said was partly driven by political and economic uncertainty in neighbouring countries. “Improving export demand had been the one bright spot in the PMI surveys over the last few months, but unfortunately this seems to have reversed in September, with new export orders declining for the first time in six months. Both output and total new orders fell at a faster rate in September as domestic demand remained weak. However, businesses were more upbeat about the outlook for the coming year, with expectations for as a more stable currency and lower inflation,” Head of MENA Research at Emirates NBD, Khatija Haque, commented.