The Companies Survey for the first quarter of 2017 indicates the continuation of the relatively rapid rate of growth of the business sector. The weighted net balance is very positive, to a statistically significant degree, in the overall business sector (Figure 1 and Table 1). The net balances are also positive to statistically significant degrees in the manufacturing and services industries. In the services and trade industries, expectations are for expansion in the next quarter, and in the manufacturing industry, a decline in domestic demand is expected. In the hotels, construction, and transport and communication industries the number of responses is too low to provide statistical significance to the findings.


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