Emirates NBD Egypt says the economy is stabilizing

CAIRO – 4 July 2017: Egypt’s non-oil private sector has shrunk in June for the 21st month in a row, the Emirates NBD Egypt’s Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) said Tuesday.

After the flotation of the Egyptian pound in November, the rate of the economy’s contraction has slowed but it is stabilizing, Emirates NBD noted.
Egypt’s PMI scored 47.2 in June, while the average PMI in Q2 2017 was 47.3, up from 45.3 in Q1 2017 and 42.2 in Q4 2016.

Despite a decline in output and new manufacturing orders on weak demand, export levels hiked in June for the third consecutive month, according to PMI.

“Employment declined on average in June, although the majority of firms kept their staff levels unchanged last month,” Emirates NBD said in June.

Both input and output prices have risen; however, the inflation of prices has eased since 2017 start, Emirates NBD said, expecting a reduction in inflationary measures if the U.S. dollar exchange rate stabilized in the coming months.

Half of the surveyed companies by the report forecasted higher output after 12 months.