Cairo – Mubasher: The Egyptian non-oil private sector recorded its first economic growth in 14 months in September, backed by higher consumer demand and export sales, a survey showed on Monday.

The seasonally adjusted IHS Markit Egypt Purchasing Managers’ Index advanced to 50.4 in September from 49.4 in August, marking the first expansion in non-oil private-sector economy since July 2019. 

"This suggests the non-oil economy is seeing a modest turnaround after the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Both the Output and New Orders series have been in expansion territory for three months, pointing to a more upbeat picture for the third quarter of 2020,” David Owen, an economist at IHS Markit, said.

In addition, new business growth accelerated at the quickest pace in more than five years.

Employment declined at the slowest pace in 10 months as “some firms notably increased hiring due to a rise in new work, which in part offset workforce reductions at other companies,” the report showed.

“While jobs are lagging behind the trend for activity, consistent increases in backlogs and mentions of hiring at some firms signal a stronger outlook for employment in the last quarter of the year,” Owen noted.

There was a slowdown in input price inflation in September as total costs recorded the weakest uptick in three months.

“Business expectations…remained below the series trend” as 36% of companies expect activity to improve over the coming 12 months