{"id":661789,"date":"2025-03-05T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-03-05T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2025\/03\/05\/egypts-non-oil-private-sector-stays-in-expansion-territory-for-second-consecutive-month\/"},"modified":"2025-03-05T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2025-03-05T00:00:00","slug":"egypts-non-oil-private-sector-stays-in-expansion-territory-for-second-consecutive-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2025\/03\/05\/egypts-non-oil-private-sector-stays-in-expansion-territory-for-second-consecutive-month\/","title":{"rendered":"Egypt\u2019s non-oil private sector stays in expansion territory for second consecutive month"},"content":{"rendered":"

Egypt\u2019s no<\/strong>n-oil business activity continued to see expansion for the second month <\/strong>running \u2014 but at <\/strong>a slower pace<\/strong> \u2014 \u201cmarking the first back-to-back improvement in business conditions in over four years,\u201d according to S&P Global\u2019s latest Purchasing Managers Index report (pdf)<\/a>. Egypt\u2019s headline figure dipped to 50.1 in February from a 50-month-high of 50.7 in January<\/a>, which marked the second time the country's non-oil activity has hit the expansion territory since November 2020.<\/p>\n

A solid start to the year:<\/strong> \u201cCoupled with January's upturn, the data reflects the best opening two months of the year in the survey's history,\u201d S&P Global Senior Economist David Owen said.<\/p>\n

Input cost pressures \u201cremained relatively soft\u201d compared to what was seen in 2024<\/strong>, which indicates that \u201cinflation is likely to continue its downward trend, in the near-term at least,\u201d Owen said. While some respondents cited increased cost pressures to a stronger USD, this was partly offset by a decline in staff costs. However, cost pressures were more felt in the manufacturing and construction sectors. Meanwhile, selling prices rose at a gradual rate in February, as businesses looked to \u201climit the pass-through of higher cost burdens to clients.\u201d<\/p>\n

Employment decreased for the third time in four months<\/strong>, as businesses faced challenges in retaining staff and hiring more workers, representing another \u201cmixed\u201d outing for the employment market. <\/p>\n

Overall business sentiment in Egypt remains subdued: <\/strong>Firms\u2019 expectations for overall business activity over the next 12 months dropped to their lowest since last November, with just 5% of businesses surveyed showing positivity towards future output trends. \u201cEconomic and geopolitical risks continue to loom large, contributing to another month of subdued expectations for the year ahead,\u201d according to Owen.<\/p>\n

New orders levels:<\/strong> The continued growth in new orders was mainly driven by \u201crecovery of market conditions and client demand\u201d \u2014 however, the slowdown from January came as a result of a decline in manufacturing orders representing a \u201cmild drag on overall performance.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t call it the beginning of a trend just yet,\u201d<\/strong> HC Securities\u2019 Heba Monir told EnterpriseAM. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t mean we\u2019ve emerged from the bottleneck, but it does indicate that firms have been performing well despite higher costs of raw materials and input prices. The improvement is generally coming from higher consumer spending, which could both be driven by softening inflationary pressures and seasonal factors \u2014 but for the number to sustainably stay past the 50.0 mark, it would have to come through interest rate cuts and a recovery in consumer spending,\u201d Monir said.<\/p>\n

ELSEWHERE IN THE REGION- <\/strong><\/p>\n