Last Wednesday FOI president Adrian Bajada chaired a press conference and information briefing on the findings of the Industry Survey for the first six months of 2006.

This press conference was also addressed by Lino Casapinta, a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, under whose collaboration this survey is conducted, Bernard Gauci of the Central Bank, which has recently joined this initiative and uses the survey's results for forecasting purposes, and FOI executive Kevin Caruana who delivered a presentation of survey findings.

Mr Bajada explained that the survey, falling under the Joint Harmonised Programme of EU Business and Consumer Surveys, is carried out monthly with the results sent regularly to DG ECFIN.

Mr Bajada added that the recent development of the Central Bank also having access to the survey results, not only adds value to the survey and enhances the research and analytical tools of the Central Bank, but also is "in line with our original objectives of broadening the scope and utilisation of our survey, avoiding duplication of effort and developing a source of up-to-date and reliable information on industrial economic activity in Malta."

Survey findings showed that the performance of the manufacturing sector improved considerably over the long-term average. Manufacturing confidence strengthened during the first four months of the year, but suffered a dip in May. However, industrial confidence rebounded in June to reach the highest level recorded since June 2005. During the reference period, manufacturers were also more optimistic about short-term prospects for employment while their selling price expectations remained at best flat.

The reported improvement in industrial confidence was mainly due to a more positive assessment of order book levels, and a strong majority of firms anticipating larger production volumes in the short-term. Indeed, the manufacturing companies that replied to FOI's survey reported higher orders January-June, compared to the historical average.

One must point out, however, that order books were consistently reported 'below normal' except in June where, for the first time since June 2005, order books were reported slightly 'above normal'. At the same time, stocks of finished products were consistently observed above the survey's historical average.