Dubai - Mubasher: The UAE’s non-oil private sector witnessed a further improvement in May, spurred by a rise in output and new orders, according to a statement.
The non-oil private sector faced lower input costs after a seven-month sequence of inflation, yet firms offered discounts to their clients for the second month in a row.
“The decline in the headline Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) reading in May comes off very high readings from February through March,” according to Khatija Haque, head of MENA Research at Emirates NBD.
“The data still shows a solid expansion in output and domestic demand in May, although external demand appears to have softened,” Haque added.
The seasonally adjusted Emirates NBD UAE PMI edged down from 56.1 in April to 54.3 in May, signalling a robust rate of expansion of the non-oil private sector although the latest reading fell to a six-month low.
The rise in the headline PMI was mainly attributed to higher business inflows, as well as greater business activity which rose at a sharp, yet slightly weaker rate.
