The decline in July in comparison to June was mainly due to the decrease in New Orders and Production Indices. The month-on-month decline of the PMI and the sub-indices follows the significant increase observed in the month of June compared to May 2016. All sub-indices of PMI, apart from Employment and Stock of Purchases Indices, declined compared to the previous month. Overall data points to an expansion on the strength of Production and Stock of Purchases Indices while all the other sub-indices remained below the neutral 50.0 threshold. The expectations for activities indicated an improvement for the next three months.

The Services Sector PMI increased to 57.8 in July from 56.3 recorded in June 2016. The moderate increase in PMI over the last month’s value indicates that economic activities continued to expand at a moderate pace during the recent months. Business Activity recorded the highest rate of expansion in four months. The employment sub index recovered from a low of 51.5 index points in June. Slower rates of expansion were registered for both New Businesses and Expectation for Activity in July compared to June. Backlog of work declined in July compared to June. Prices charged, which is not taken into consideration in PMI compilation process, decelerated in July 2016 for the second consecutive month from its peak in May 2016.