Egypt: Conditions deteriorate at sharper rate in January
The IHS Markit Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI)—which measures business activity in the non-oil private sector—dropped to a nine-month low of 47.9 in January from December’s 49.0. Consequently, the index moved further below the 50-threshold, where it has been for the past 14 months, signaling a sharper deterioration in business operating conditions from the previous month.
January’s downturn was largely due to output decreasing at the sharpest pace since June 2020. This came amid a large decline in new orders, brought about by high prices for goods and services, as well as pandemic-related supply bottlenecks. Turning to input prices, costs for raw materials, components and transport all continued to increase in January, although firms only partially passed on the extra burden to clients. Meanwhile, employment levels dropped for the third month running and backlogs were broadly stable. More positively, firms’ sentiment improved for the second consecutive month in January, sustained by expectations of higher output and new business.