Business confidence has continued to rise in Northern Ireland in sharp contrast to the growing pessimism about output and orders registered by manufacturers in most other UK regions.

But confidence about export prospects for Northern Ireland's manufacturing companies has been affected by sterling's startling rise on the currency markets.

The Confederation of British Industry's (CBI) latest regional trends survey paints a picture of buoyant optimism among the leaders of Northern Ireland's manufacturing industry not shared by their counterparts in Britain.

Although the CBI hesitates to provide an explanation of the unique optimism, previous surveys have linked business confidence in Northern Ireland to high levels of economic growth and demand enjoyed in the Republic. "Northern Ireland is the only region where manufacturers are more optimistic than four months ago," says the CBI in comment on the survey findings.

"This reflects the increase in the number of firms expecting total orders to rise over the next four months. In this respect, Northern Ireland has been the most optimistic region in the UK for 20 months."