During the period under review, the textiles and textile products manufacturing sub-sector improved its sales performance by Lm3.2 million or 86.5 per cent to Lm6.9 million from Lm3.7 million last year.

The medical, precision and optical instruments sub-sector also registered an increase in sales of Lm2.6 million or 42.6 per cent to Lm8.7 million from Lm6.1 million. Sales by the radio, television and communication equipment manufacturing sub-sector increased by Lm2.2 million or 1.9 per cent from Lm118.3 million to Lm120.5 million.

In addition, an increase in sales of Lm1.9 million was also registered by both the electrical machinery and apparatus and the food and beverages sub-sectors.

In the course of the first quarter this year, sales by the wearing apparel and clothes manufacturing sub-sector were down by Lm2.5 million or 17.4 per cent to Lm11.9 million from Lm14.4 million last year. At the same time, a fall in sales was also registered by the fabricated metal products and the leather and leather products sub-sectors.

Employment, wages and salaries

In the first quarter this year, employment in the sampled enterprises declined by a net 1,577 employees to 19,773, when compared to the first quarter the year before. Most of the job losses were registered in the wearing apparel and clothes (-890 employees), the radio, television and communication equipment (-379 employees) and the chemicals and chemical products (-295 employees) manufacturing sub-sectors.

The medical, precision and optical instruments sub-sector recorded an increase in employment of 241 employees. Other manufacturing sub-sectors that recorded an increase in employment were textiles and textile products and the machinery and equipment, with an additional 72 and 66 employees respectively.

In the period under review an amount of around Lm30.7 million was paid out in gross wages and salaries by the sampled enterprises. This includes a special allowance for the VAT increase.

Investment

In the quarter under review, investment in manufacturing registered a net increase of around Lm3.2 million to Lm14.2 million, compared to Lm11.0 million in the previous year. Most of the increase was in the publishing and printing sub-sector, where investment rose by nearly Lm4 million to Lm4.5 million from the Lm 0.5 million recorded in the January-March 2003 quarter.