Visitor arrivals up 12%
The number of visitors arriving in Hong Kong reached 680,000 in October, representing an increase of 11.9 per cent over the same month last year. Taiwanese visitors recorded the highest increase of 27 per cent to 149,447 while Japanese visitors showed a decline of 10.4 per cent to 105,045. For the first 10 months this year, the total number of arrivals stood at 5.7 million, an increase of 17.1 per cent over the same period of comparison last year.
Retail sales up 18% in September
The estimated value of total retail sales in September rose 18 per cent from a year ago to HK$13.9 billion (US$1.8 billion). After discounting the effect of price changes over the period, total retail sales increased by 11 per cent in volume terms. Comparing the first nine months of this year with the same period last year, total retail sales increased by 19 per cent in value and 13 per cent in volume.
Container throughput forecast to reach 7.7 million TEU
Hong Kong's container throughput is forecast to reach 7.7 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units) by the end of the year. This will represent a 25 per cent increase over last year's figure of 6. 162 million TEUs. For the first 10 months, container throughput for Hong Kong port rose by 28.3 per cent to 6.54 million TEUs.
Airport cargo through HK up 12.3%
Airport cargo passing through Hong Kong in October surged by 12.3 per cent to 92.29 million kilogrammes over the same month last year. Airborne exports rose 10.6 per cent to 51.89 million kilogrammes while transhipment cargo increased 8.2 per cent to 9.38 million kilogrammes. The October figures on cargo volume bring the tally for the year to 745.6 million kilogrammes against 671.8 million kilogrammes for the same 10-month period last year.
Property market shows downward trend
The tighter lending policy of banks and other authorised institutions and the consistent supply of new flats coming on the market have prompted a slowing down in the property market. Results of a survey conducted by the Commissioner of Banking indicated that growth in residential mortgage lending slackened from 16 per cent for the second half of 1991 to 8 per cent for the first half of 1992, and figures up to October suggested the downward trend was continuing.
HK dollar deposits record strong increase in October
Under the influence of a number of share flotation exercises, Hong Kong dollar deposits with authorised institutions, rose sharply by 19.1 per cent in October. Meanwhile, HK$M1 and HK$M2 and HK$M3 increased by 54.2 per cent, 18.3 per cent and 17.6 per cent respectively. Total outstanding loans and. advances extended by authorised institutions increased by 3.5 per cent in October. Among these loans, Hong Kong dollar loans increased by 15.8 per cent while foreign currency loans decreased by 2.3 per cent.
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