19 -
Wednesday, February 28, 1973
17 PER CENT RISE IN G.D.P. PREDICTED
The Financial Secretary, the Hon. Philip Haddon-Cave, today predicted
that the Gross Domestic Product in 1973 would, as in last year, increase by
about 17 per cent to nearly $27,000 million.
that:
Speaking in his budget speech, he said this was based on the predictions
the value of domestic exports will increase by about 10 per cent, total exports by 13 per cent and imports by 8 per cent (rather more than the 7 per cent experienced in 1972).
gross domestic capital formation will increase by 23 per cent to nearly $7,000 million; this will be about 25 per cent of the predicted G.D.P. or roughly similar to 1971 and 1972 and a much healthier proportion than the average of 18 per cent in the previous three years 1968-70, and
private and Government consumption expenditure will both increase by about 11 per cent.
Referring to the prediction he made in his last year's budget speech,
Mr. Haddon-Cave said he was not optimistic enough when he predicted that the Gross Domestic Product would increase in 1972 by about 10 per cent (in money terms), about the same as in 1971.
The Census and Statistics Department's provisional estimate for
G.D.P. in 1972, he added, was just short of $23,000 million, a 17 per cent
increase on 1971.
Imports grew by only 7 per cent, but domestic exports grew at the
same rate as in 1971 (11 per cent) and so did total exports (13 per cent) and
fixed capital formation grew by 17 per cent.
Moreover,