Business conditions in Egypt's non-oil private sector deteriorated for ten months in a row as output and new orders were down due to weaker customer demand, a business survey revealed on Tuesday.

However, firms in the non-oil private sector reported a record level of confidence towards future business activity in September, as optimism grew that the economy would recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

IHS Markit's Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) slid to 48.9 - below the 50.0 threshold that separates growth from contraction - from 49.8 in July as weaker customer demand caused new orders and output to slide.

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David Owen, Economist at IHS Markit, said: "Moreover, confidence towards future activity soared to a record high in the series nine-year history. The rise coincided with a faster vaccination programme in Egypt and a further relaxation of travel measures that should aid tourism income in the fourth quarter."

Firms reported decline in output at the end of the third quarter, as well as a slump in new orders received during the month.

Nevertheless, local and global developments related to the pandemic meant that firms grew increasingly confident that activity will improve over the next year, IHS Markit said in its survey. 

(Writing by Seban Scaria; editing by Daniel Luiz)

(seban.scaria@refinitiv.com) 

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