WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 1975
BETTER TIMES AHEAD
GOVERNOR SEES RECOVERY IN ECONOMIC PROSPECTS
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THE GOVERNOR, SIR MURRAY MACLEHOSE, VIEWING THE COMING YEAR TODAY FORESAW BETTER TIMES AHEAD FOR HONG KONG AMID INDICATIONS OF A SLOW IMPROVEMENT IN ECONOMIC PROSPECTS.
+ SEE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL,+ SIR MURRAY TOLD THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, THOUGH I DO NOT THINK THE ECONOMIC WORLD INTO WHICH WE ARE EMERGING WILL BE QUITE THE SAME AS THE ONE WE LEFT BEHIND AT THE END OF 1973.+
HE ADDED. BUT IT IS ONE IN WHICH WE CAN CERTAINLY BE ASSURED THAT THE RELATIVE ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF FAR EASTERN AND SOUTH EAST ASIAN COUNTRIES WILL GROW, AND HONG KONG OCCUPIES A CENTRAL POSITION IN THAT AREA AND, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF JAPAN ITSELF, HAS UNRIVALLED FACILITIES OF INDUSTRY, FINANCE, AND COMMUNICATIONS.+
IF HONG KONG APPROACHED THE NEW SITUATION WITH ITS CHARACTERISTIC VIGOUR, HE SAID, THERE IS A FAIR PROSPECT OF A RETURN TO GROWTH CONDITIONS IN HONG KONG, WITH IMPROVED INCOMES AND PROFITS.+
THE GOVERNOR CAUTIONED, HOWEVER, THAT THE RECOVERY WHICH WAS SLOWLY DEVELOPING COULD BE EXPECTED TO BE PATCHY AND SPASMODIC
IN EACH OF HONG KONG'S MARKETS, OFFERING SUDDEN AND GROWING OPPORTUNITIES BUT ALSO DISAPPOINTMENTS AND FRUSTRATIONS.
THIS, HE SAID, WAS BECAUSE THE FINANCIAL BLOWS SUSTAINED BY THE WORLD HAD BEEN HEAVY AND THE ECONOMIES OF THE COUNTRIES OF HONG KONG'S PRINCIPAL MARKETS WERE STILL OVERSHADOWED BY UNSOLVED PRODLEMS THAT WERE LIKELY TO INNIDIT EITHER VERY RAPID OR SUSTAINED GROWTH. IN ADDITION, ALTHOUGH LIQUIDITY HAD GREATLY IMPROVED IN MOST OF HONG KONG'S MARKETS, THE CONFIDENCE TO USE IT BOLDLY HAD YET TO RETURN.
LOOKING BACK OVER THE PAST YEAR, THE GOVERNOR SAID THE GOVERNMENT HAD STRAINED EVERY EFFORT TO HOLD FAST TO ITS VISION OF A DETTER LIFE FOR THE PEOPLE OF HONG KONG DESPITE THE EAD TIMES.
CONSIDERING THE CIRCUMSTANCES, HE SAID, REMARKABLE PROGRESS HAD BEEN MAINTAINED THROUGH STRINGENT ECONOMIES ON THE ONE HAND AND PROVISION OF NEW RESOURCES ON THE OTHER.
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* INEVITABLY THE ACHIEVEMENTS HAD NOT BEEN AS GREAT IN MANY AREAS AS HE WOULD HAVE WISHED BECAUSE ASPIRATIONS WERE GREATER THAN RESOURCES WOULD ALLOW.
HE NOTED THAT
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