PMI  shows slowdown in economic activity

The Emirates’  NBD  bank’s  Purchasing Managers Index  (PMI) for Egypt’s economy fell to 49.2 in July, the lowest since February, from 50.2 in June.

The PMI measure is based on answers to a survey covering purchasing executives in about 450 private sector companies. It carries five sub-indexes measuring key indicators including output, new orders and employment.

The index was below 50 in six of the first seven months of 2015, indicating that the economy is not recovering yet.

The survey “came in below expectations, and hence raises the possibility that Egypt’s macroeconomic recovery may have stalled,” Jean-Paul Pigat, senior economist at Emirates NBD PJSC, said in a statement. Business activity is being undermined by the country’s “security risks” and a foreign exchange shortage, raising the potential for economic growth to accelerate if both improve, Pigat said.