Easing inflation slows down decline in Egypt's non-oil economy in May: S&P

The report issued on 5 June showed that the index measuring non-oil private sector activity in Egypt rose slightly from 47.3 in April to 47.8 in May.

However, Egypt is still below the 50-point threshold which marks a state of stability in the market, where neither contraction nor growth is achieved.

"The Egypt PMI remained in negative territory in May, but showed further promise that current economic headwinds were beginning to dissipate…Two main subindices of Output and New Orders rose to their highest levels in 17 and seven months, respectively," said David Owen, Senior Economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence.  

Softer inflation

The inflationary pressures on private businesses in Egypt relaxed a bit in May, but their impact on sales and production stands, the S&P report said.

The demand saw some degree of improvement for some companies, while others still suffer from a shrinking in new orders.

Egypt's annual headline inflation dropped to 31.5 percent in April, down from 33.9 percent in March, recording the first monthly deceleration in 10 months, but a leap from 14.9 percent in April 2022, according to official data.