FRIDAY, MAY 25, 1979
PROVISIONAL TRADE FIGURES FOR APRIL
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THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT TODAY (FRIDAY) PUBLISHED THE PROVISIONAL FIGURES FOR HONG KONG'S EXTERNAL MERCHANDISE TRADE DURING APRIL.
THE VALUE OF TOTAL EXPORTS WAS $5,740 MILLION, MADE UP OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS OF $4,154 MILLION AND RE-EXPORTS OF $1,586
MILLION. WITH IMPORTS AT $7,114 MILLION, THE VISIBLE TRADE DEFICIT FOR APRIL WAS $1,374 MILLION.
COMPARED WITH THE SAME MONTH IN 1978, THE VALUE OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS IN APRIL INCREASED BY 37 PER CENT OR $1,111 MILLION AND THE VALUE OF RE-EXPORTS BY 58 PER CENT OR $585 MILLION.
THE VALUE OF TOTAL EXPORTS, THAT IS DOMESTIC EXPORTS PLUS RE-EXPORTS, INCREASED BY 42 PER CENT OR $1,696 MILLION. THUS THE GROWTH RATE OF TOTAL EXPORTS WAS ROUGHLY THE SAME AS THE GROWTH RATE OF IMPORTS AT 43 PER CENT.
1978.
IMPORTS WERE, BY VALUE, $2,146 MILLION HIGHER THAN IN APRIL
COMMENTING ON THE TRADE FIGURES, A GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN SAID IT WAS ENCOURAGING THAT, TAKING THE FIRST FOUR MONTHS OF THE YEAR TOGETHER, TOTAL EXPORTS WERE GROWING FASTER THAN IMPORTS.
COMPARING FIGURES FOR THE FIRST FOUR MONTHS OF THE YEAR WITH THOSE FOR THE FIRST FOUR MONTHS OF 1978, THE VALUE OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS WAS 33 PER CENT HIGHER, THE VALUE OF RE-EXPORTS WAS 59 PER CENT HIGHER, THE VALUE OF TOTAL EXPORTS WAS 39 PER CENT HIGHER AND THE VALUE OF IMPORTS WAS 37 PER CENT HIGHER.
GIVEN THAT THE VISIBLE TRADE DEFICIT FOR THE FIRST FOUR MONTHS OF 1978 REPRESENTED AROUND 40 PER CENT OF THE TOTAL VISIBLE TRADE DEFICIT FOR THAT YEAR, THE SPOKESMAN SAID THAT A VISIBLE TRADE DEFICIT OF $4,609 MILLION FOR THE FIRST FOUR MONTHS OF 1979 COULD MEAN A VISIBLE TRADE DEFICIT OF LESS THAN $12,000 MILLION FOR THE YEAR AS A WHOLE.
THIS WAS SLIGHTLY BELOW THE VISIBLE TRADE DEFICIT IMPLICIT IN THE FINANCIAL SECRETARY'S BUDGET SPEECH FORECAST ON THE ECONOMY.
THUS THE TRADE FIGURES SUPPORTED THE VIEW THAT THE ECONOMY WAS FOLLOWING THE COURSE PREDICTED IN THE BUDGET SPEECH.
IN CONSIDERING THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE TRADE FIGURES FOR THE ECONOMY, HE SAID IT MUST BE REMEMBERED THAT THE IMPORTS AND EXPORTS FOR THE FIRST FOUR MONTHS OF THIS YEAR WERE ORDERED MONTHS BEFORE THE FINANCIAL SECRETARY ANNOUNCED THE MEASURES TO SLOW DOWN THE GROWTH RATE OF DOMESTIC DEMAND.
/EVEN SO,