Dubai non-oil private business growth loses steam

Dubai's biggest bank Emirates NBD said Wednesday in its assessment of the non-oil private commercial sector in Dubai, that October data signalled a further improvement in business but growth hit the slowest growth momentum since April.

At 53.2 in October, the seasonally adjusted Emirates NBD Dubai Economy Tracker Index registered above the crucial 50.0 no-change value for the eighth month running, said the lender in an e-mailed statement.

The latest reading was down from 55.1 in September and pointed to the slowest growth momentum in six months. A reading of below 50.0 indicates that the non-oil private sector economy is generally declining; above 50.0, that it is generally expanding. A reading of 50.0 signals no change.

Khatija Haque, Head of MENA Research at Emirates NBD, said "The softer reading for the Dubai Economy Tracker in October is consistent with what we've seen at national level, and comes off a strong third quarter performance."

She added although the headline indices are lower, "output and new work growth remains strong and we remain comfortable with our forecast of 3.5 percent economic growth in Dubai this year."

Travel and tourism remained the best performing broad category in October (index at 54.8), followed by wholesale and retail (53.3).

Meanwhile, construction companies recorded only a modest improvement in business conditions (index at 51.8), partly reflecting another subdued rise in new business intakes during October, said the bank.

Input price inflation was only modest in October, which continued the trend seen on average in 2016 so far.