Expenditure on real gross fixed investment continued to be buoyant throughout the first nine months of 2003. Private business enterprises as well as the public sector increased their fixed capital outlays. The government and public corporations increased their capital expenditure on infrastructure expansion aimed at service delivery, while private business appeared to be making the most of conditions that favour expenditure on capital goods.
Such conditions included an exchange rate conducive to importing goods, a lowering in the cost of borrowing, rising prices in international commodity markets and considerably more stability on the inflation front. The strong domestic final demand was unable to prevent a decline in manufacturing output.