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Thursday, November 29, 1973
Dealing with the retail price rises generally, the Financial
Secretary said that long before they became a matter of public concern
the Economic Branch of the Secretariat and the Consumer Price Index
and Trade Research Sections of the Census and Statistics Department
were monitoring the situation.
The data which has now been assembled is not only wide-ranging.
but also now extends back over several years.
T
Mr. Haddon-Cave said: "Our aim is to ensure that we are
constantly aware of what is happening in the prices field, why it is
happening and what effect it is having on the community."
The Economic Branch and the Census and Statistics Department
make use of a whole range of information and expert advice including
the Agriculture and Fisheries Department, the Commerce and Industry
Department and the Urban Services Department.
He said Legislative Council members who had suggested the
establishment of an economic advisory committee or a price stabilisation
board were not directly associated with this monitoring machinery.
However, he added "I think it would be very useful if they were
because they could then satisfy themselves that government officers
are sensitive to what is happening around them, and I think there would
be merit in the appropriate UMELCO group periodically meeting.them to be
briefed, and we would welcome their suggestions as to useful lines of
enquiry."
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