Egypt: Business confidence at highest level in 26 months

New financial data in Egypt has shown that output, new orders and employment all declined at a slower rate in October, indicating that the Egyptian non-oil private sector downturn eased.

The data took into consideration that both input and output price inflation softened, according to Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) of Emirates NBD and IHS Markit.

Business confidence hit a 26-month high, signaling strong optimism towards future growth prospects, with many expecting economic stability over the coming year.

Commenting on the Egypt PMI survey, Khatija Haque, head of MENA Research at Emirates NBD, said: “The headline PMI for Egypt improved in October, although it remains under the neutral 50 level. Output, new orders and employment declined at a slower rate in October compared with September. New export orders increased on average last month, after declining in September. Encouragingly, business optimism in October was the highest in more than two years.”