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FRIDAY, MAY 7, 1976
MARCH EXPORTS UP BY $890 M. ******
THE VALUE OF HONG KONG'S DOMESTIC EXPORTS FOR MARCH WAS $2,512 MILLION, REPRESENTING AN INCREASE OF $891 MILLION OR 55 PER CENT, BY VALUE, COMPARED WITH THE SAME MONTH LAST YEAR.
ACCORDING TO PROVISIONAL TRADE FIGURES RELEASED TODAY BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT, THE VALUE OF IMPORTS INCREASED BY 43.7 PER CENT TO $3,498 MILLION WHILE THE VALUE OF RE-EXPORTS WENT UP BY 33.7 PER CENT TO $747 MILLION COMPARED WITH MARCH 1975.
THE FIGURES FOR THE FIRST QUARTER OF THIS YEAR SHOWED INCREASES, BY VALUE, COMPARED WITH THE SAME QUARTER LAST YEAR, OF 51.1 PER CENT FOR DOMESTIC EXPORTS, 38.9 PER CENT FOR IMPORTS AND 35.6 PER CENT FOR RE-EXPORTS.
THE FIGURES FOR THE 12-MONTH PERIOD FROM APRIL 1975 TO MARCH 1976 COMPARED WITH THOSE OF THE PREVIOUS 12-MONTH PERIOD SHOWED INCREASES, BY VALUE, OF 13.6 PER CENT FOR DOMESTIC EXPORTS, 9.5 PER CENT FOR IMPORTS AND 9.4 PER CENT FOR RE- EXPORTS.
A SPOKESMAN FOR THE COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY DEPARTMENT COMMENTING ON THE TRADE FIGURES REFERRED TO THE FINANCIAL SECRETARY'S REMARKS IN HIS LAST BUDGET SPEECH, WHEN HE SAID +THE FIRST HALF OF 1975 ..... WAS VERY DEPRESSED AND THE ECONOMY WAS OPERATING WELL BELOW CAPACITY IN ALL SECTORS. SO, ANY GROWTH IN THE FIRST HALF OF 1976 WILL APPEAR, SUPERFICIALLY, VERY HIGH, BUT THIS SHOULD BE SEEN AS A REFLECTION OF THE LOW LEVEL REACHED THIS TIME LAST YEAR RATHER THAN A HIGH LEVEL OF OUTPUT RELATIVE TO THE CAPACITY OF THE ECONOMY.+
NOTE TO EDITORS:
THE FOLLOWING TABLE WITH COMPARATIVE FIGURES IS GIVEN FOR YOUR REFERENCE :-
MERCHANDISE :
DOMESTIC EXPORTS
$2,512 MILLION
IMPORTS
$3,498 MILLION
RE-EXPORTS
$ 747 MILLION
/COMPARATIVE