This decrease, together with a reduction in private-sector investment, reduced total real gross fixed capital formation by 7% in 1999. However, the rate of decline in total investment levelled off towards the end of the year.
Fixed capital formation increased at an annualised rate of 1½% in the first half of 2000 when private companies apparently started to increase capital spending in anticipation of stronger growth in domestic and export demand. In sharp contrast to the developments in other expenditure aggregates, real household consumption expenditure rose steeply over the twelve months up to June 2000.