Dubai’s non-oil private sector economy continued to grow in December despite a slowdown in oil-related business. This was due to increased output, as businesses received more customer orders at the end of last year. The emirate’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI) increased to 55.2 in December, up from 54.9 in November. This indicates that the economy is expanding moderately.
The survey found that the output growth in the non-oil sector of the Emirate was at its slowest since February, but this was still an improvement from the earlier conditions. “Growth in Dubai non-oil activity … remained robust and stronger than the average seen since the survey began in 2010,” said David Owen, an economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, according to The National.
“Firms linked the expansion to a sharp upturn in new order inflows and a continued improvement in demand conditions.” Cost pressures eased as input fees fell for the third time in five months, owing to an improvement in supply conditions, the survey said. “The emirate is performing much better than global economic trends for activity and demand,” Mr. Owen said.
