Output and new orders for non-oil private companies rose notably during September, with the headline Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) reaching 52.4, HSBC announced in its monthly PMI report.
“The seasonally adjusted headline PMI rose from 51.6 in August to a ten-month high of 52.4 in September, signalling a further improvement in operating conditions at Egyptian non-oil private sector companies,” the report said.
“The latest PMI reading was also the second-highest on record,” it added.
On the improvement of the PMI, Senior Economist at HSBC Razen Nasser stated that the country still faces some challenges. He pointed out, however, that the overall numbers are encouraging and that growth is expected to continue through 2015.
The HSBC report highlighted that the new orders rate hiked to reach its highest level in2014, adding that new export orders from Europe and Libya led to such growth.
“With output and new orders rising further, companies were encouraged to take on additional workers,” the report said. “Employment rose for the first time since April 2012, but the rate of job creation was only modest overall”.
