A Charles Sturt University (CSU) report shows that sales performance remained slightly higher in the Central West than across regional NSW. The September quarter survey of 197 businesses in the NSW Central West and a further 355 across regional NSW also found that greatest improvement on  the previous survey quarter was reported by businesses across regional NSW. Mr Tom Murphy, Chief Executive Officer of CSU’s Western Research Institute, said that despite the continuing drought and a further interest rate rise, Central West businesses reported an increase in both capital expenditure and employment. The comments follow the release on Monday 15 October of the Reliance Credit Union Central West Regional Business Survey for the September quarter of 2007. “When asked about the impact of the interest rate rise, 66 per cent of Central West businesses reported no impact on their business. The tourism and transport sectors reported the strongest overall sales performance in the Central West, and consumer demand had the strongest positive impact on sales performance in both the Central West and regional NSW. Over half the businesses in the Central West (54 per cent) are anticipating good to very good sales performance for the 2007 Christmas period,” Mr Murphy said.