The IHS Markit Egypt Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) decreased to 47.9 points in January 2022 from 49 in December, marking the lowest level seen in the country’s non-oil private sector economy since April 2021.
This reading was below the series average of 48.2 to reflect the sharp decline in business conditions across Egypt’s non-oil economy amid lower client demands and inflationary pressures, according to a press release on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the production levels retreated at the quickest pace in over a year and a half.
Inflationary pressures in the non-oil sector remained strong at the beginning of 2022 with the continued increase in the prices of raw materials, components, and transport.
In addition, the employment levels decreased for the third month in a row, driven by lower demands that led to stable backlogs and reduced workloads.
The Economist at IHS Markit, David Owen, said: “The drop-off in sales volumes was the joint-quickest since June 2020, driven by marked contractions in the construction and wholesale & retail sectors.”
Owen added: “More positively, firms remained largely confident that they would weather the current economic storm and see activity increase over the next 12 months. The degree of optimism picked up but remained lower than those seen through much of 2021.”
