Cairo – Mubasher: Activity in the Egyptian non-oil private sector shrank in November for the fourth month in a row, marking the fastest decline since September 2017.

Egypt's Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) dropped to 47.9 in November from 49.2 in October, according to a recent survey produced by IHS Markit. A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while a reading below that signals contraction.

The decline rate accelerated “as businesses sought to limit activity due to a drop in new orders,” the survey showed.

New businesses also declined as sales to foreign customers dropped sharply despite new contracts with companies in Saudi Arabia, Greece, Morocco, and others.  

Several Egyptian companies worked on boosting sales by lowering production charges, helped by a slowdown in inflation rate.

“Inflationary pressures continued to ease, with the latest mark-up in input costs being the second-softest on record,” David Owen, an economist at IHS Markit, remarked.

“This allowed companies to raise input buying and also lower selling prices for the first time since May. The drop in charges may see some demand restored in future months,” Owen noted.

With a drop in new businesses, employment decreased for the first time in four months.

Although “future sentiment decreased slightly in November…it remained positive overall, with a high proportion of firms expecting output to rise in the coming twelve months.”