Export orders fall in services sector

THE country’s services sector saw new export orders contract for the first time this year in July, and at the fastest pace in two years, stoking doubts about the country’s economic growth prospects, a survey released yesterday has showed.

The domestic economy is shrinking under a wave of harsh austerity measures, high levels of personal debt and unemployment, and is heavily dependent on exports to achieve the economic growth it needs to meet its targets under an EU-IMF bailout.

The NCB Purchasing Managers’ Index, which measures activity in the services sector, slipped to 51.7 from 52.4 in June, remaining just above the 50 line separating growth from contraction.