Recent reports have pointed to strong domestic demand impacting positively on manufacturing, and various confidence indices as well as the Investec Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) are indicative of an improvement. There are also signs that the growth in world demand is beginning to have a positive impact on manufactured exports.
Domestic expenditure has continued to grow at a robust pace, increasing by 7,2 per cent in the fourth quarter on a quarterly annualised basis, and 4,2 per cent for 2003 as a whole, slightly lower than that recorded in the previous year.