With growth of 7 per cent in manufacturing, 6 per cent in electricity, gas and water, and 41½ per cent in transport and communication, together with positive growth in all the other sub-sectors, the fears of a pending recession must at least for now have been allayed. Gross domestic expenditure, on the other hand, remained fairly depressed.
An estimated small decline in total expenditure in the first half of 1997 contributed to the consolidation process of restoring a better balance between total domestic production and effective demand.