Egypt’s non-oil private sector contracted further in April according to S&P Global, while Lebanon saw its economic decline slow across the month.

The north African country’s Purchasing Managers’ Index hit 48.5 in the period, down from 49.2 in March.

This contraction was driven by a reduction in domestic and foreign demand, which caused new orders to fall for the second consecutive month.  Any figure below 50 indicates a decline, while above that number shows growth.

Despite this marginal increase, the figure is still lower than earlier this year, when the country registered a healthy reading of 50.6 in January and 50.5 in February.  The figures for the countries come as PMI figures across the Middle East and North Africa have generally been reflecting the rapid expansion and growth of private firms.

In April, Saudi Arabia’s PMI stood at 55.6, while it was 54 in the UAE and 54.2 in Kuwait.

Reflecting on Egypt’s decline, David Owen, senior economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said: “Business activity weakened for the second month running in April as firms highlighted an additional drag from falling sales.”

In January, Egypt’s non-oil business activities entered the expansion zone, with the PMI hitting 50.7. It was followed by another healthy month of growth in February, where the PMI stood at 50.1.

Source: Arabnews