A business and consumer survey by the European Commission has shown that industrial confidence rose by eight points in Malta this month over June.

The boost in confidence compares well with an average three point increase in the EU.

Trust in the economy also rose by 3.7 points in Malta and 3.9 points in the EU.

But consumer confidence remains low and has actually dropped by three points as a result of small declines in expectations on the financial situation of households and the economic situation for the next 12 months.

The report shows that the improvement in the industrial confidence indicator in Malta was mainly due to an improvement in orders with manufacturing firms. Furthermore, the stock of finished goods declined, indicating that industry was selling.

Malta saw a significant imp-rovement in the estimated number of months of production assured by orders on hand in the manufacturing industry. This increased by 2.9 months to match the maximum value of 6.1 months, which was registered in the April 2006 survey. In the EU, the number of months assured were 3.1. Malta achieved the third longest number of months in the EU.

Export volume expectations in the manufacturing industry also showed notable improvement with the indicator swinging into positive for the first time in a year.