Only a 'modest' rise in production output is CBI's verdict

LONDON: According to the CBI's March Industrial Trends Survey manufacturing orders remain depressed and firms anticipate only a modest rise in production in the next three months.

LONDON: According to the CBI's March Industrial Trends Survey manufacturing orders remain depressed and firms anticipate only a modest rise in production in the next three months.

Twenty-five per cent of those polled said they expected output to rise in the next quarter while 20% predicted a fall.

Input price pressures are, however, beginning to resurface. A balance of 17% of respondents expect input prices to rise over the next quarter, considerably stronger than the balance of +8% recorded in both January and February. 

Net lending by all UK-resident banks and building societies to businesses contracted by £6.5bn in January according to the Bank of England. Credit conditions remain tightest for small and medium-sized enterprises.