A survey today, Thursday, showed that non-oil private sector activity in… Egypt It contracted last December for the 37th straight month as the weak currency and import restrictions continue to hamper business activities, but confidence about future production has rebounded from a record low.
The Standard & Poor’s Global Purchasing Managers’ Index in Egypt rose to 48.5 points from 48.4 last November, but it remained below the 50 point level, which indicates growth in activity.
“Survey evidence suggests that the weakness of the pound and persistent supply shortages played a major role in the contraction, as companies consequently faced rapid inflation in input costs and a decline in customer spending,” S&P Global said.
According to the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics, the rate has slowed Inflation In Egyptian cities, the annual rate reached 34.6% last November, but it remained close to its highest level ever recorded last September, which was 38%.
Standard & Poor’s wrote that the new orders sub-index fell to 46.9 points from 47.3 points last November, which survey participants linked to a “decline in new orders and inflationary pressures,” especially in wholesale and retail trade.
The production sub-index fell to 46.7 points from 47.2 points, similarly indicating that higher prices led to a decline in customer demand.
Business confidence rose again in December after falling last November to the lowest level since the launch of the corporate confidence sub-index in 2012. The sub-index increased to 55.1 points from 50.9 last November.
At the beginning of the new year, Egypt raised the prices of some basic services and commodities by rates ranging between 15% and 35%, similar to the prices of the metro and landline Internet packages.
Egypt is living under the weight of a stifling economic and financial crisis, due to the shortage of foreign currency, the sharp decline of the pound, which is now being sold on the black market at the level of 50 to 52 pounds per dollar, the exit of foreign investments, and the increasing volume of the country’s external debt, which has reached approximately $165 billion, including about 29 billion dollars. One billion dollars due in 2024.