Egypt’s non-oil private sector activity contracted for the 28th consecutive month in March as import and foreign exchange restrictions and soaring inflation hit businesses, a survey showed on Tuesday.
Standard & Poor’s Global PMI for Egypt eased slightly to 46.7 in March from 46.9 in February, still well below the 50-point threshold indicating picking up activity.
David Owen, economist at Standard & Poor’s Global, said: The index at 46.7 points to further deterioration in non-oil performance under pressure from a sharp decline in activity and new business volumes.
Egypt continues to suffer from a foreign exchange shortage despite the Egyptian pound falling by about 50% since March and the signing in December of a new $3 billion bailout package with the International Monetary Fund.
Data from the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics showed that inflation in Egyptian cities rose to 31.9 percent in February from 25.8 percent in January, bringing it to its highest level in five and a half years, while core inflation jumped to 40. 26 percent. .
The PMI sub-index for total factor prices rose to 62.8 from 62.7 in February, while the input price index increased from 63.9 to 64.3.
Source: agencies