SATURDAY, JUNE 23, 1979
PROVISIONAL TRADE FIGURES FOR MAY 1979
******
THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT TODAY (SATURDAY) PUBLISHED THE PROVISIONAL FIGURES FOR HONG KONG'S EXTERNAL MERCHANDISE TRADE DURING MAY 1979. THE VALUE OF TOTAL EXPORTS FOR MAY WAS $6,208 MILLION, MADE UP OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS OF $4,552 MILLION AND RE-EXPORTS OF $1,656 MILLION. WITH IMPORTS AT $6,884 MILLION, THE VISIBLE TRADE DEFICIT FOR MAY WAS $676 MILLION.
COMMENTING ON THESE TRADE FIGURES, A GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN SAID THAT IT WAS ENCOURAGING TO SEE A SUBSTANTIAL NARROWING IN THE ABSOLUTE SIZE OF THE VISIBLE TRADE DEFICIT, ALTHOUGH IT IS NORMAL FOR THE VISIBLE TRADE DEFICIT TO NARROW AT THIS TIME OF THE YEAR.
HE ADDED THAT THE VISIBLE TRADE DEFICIT FOR THE FIRST FIVE MONTHS OF 1978 WAS ABOUT 45 PER CENT OF THE TOTAL VISIBLE DEFICIT FOR THAT YEAR. SO, A DEFICIT OF $5,287 MILLION FOR THE FIRST FIVE MONTHS OF 1979 COULD MEAN A VISIBLE TRADE DEFICIT SLIGHTLY LESS THAN THE FIGURE OF $12,000 MILLION IMPLICIT IN THE FINANCIAL SECRETARY'S BUDGET SPEECH FORECAST ON THE ECONOMY FOR 1979. MOREOVER, THE DEFICIT FOR THE FIRST FIVE MONTHS OF 1979, AT ABOUT 17 PER CENT OF THE VALUE OF IMPORTS, WAS SMALLER IN RELATIVE TERMS THAN IN THE SAME PERIOD LAST YEAR WHEN THE PROPORTION WAS ABOUT 18 PER CENT.
IT WAS ENCOURAGING, THE SPOKESMAN SAID, THAT TOTAL EXPORTS WERE CONTINUING TO GROW FASTER THAN IMPORTS. COMPARED WITH THE SAME MONTH IN 1978, THE VALUE OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS IN MAY INCREASED BY 35 PER CENT AND THE VALUE OF RE-EXPORTS BY 42 PER CENT. SO THE VALUE OF TOTAL EXPORTS, THAT IS, DOMESTIC EXPORTS PLUS RE-EXPORTS, INCREASED BY 37 PER CENT. THIS IS SLIGHTLY FASTER THAN THE INCREASE IN IMPORTS AT 36 PER CENT.
COMPARING FIGURES FOR THE FIRST FIVE MONTHS OF THE YEAR WITH THOSE OF THE FIRST FIVE MONTHS OF 1978, THE VALUE OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS WAS 33 PER CENT HIGHER, THE VALUE OF RE-EXPORTS WAS 53 PER CENT HIGHER, THE VALUE OF TOTAL EXPORTS WAS 38 PER CENT HIGHER AND THE VALUE OF IMPORTS WAS 36 PER CENT HIGHER.
LOOKING AT THE MORE SHORT-TERM CHANGES, THE SPOKESMAN SAID THAT IT WAS WORTH NOTING THAT WHILE THE VALUE OF TOTAL EXPORTS INCREASED BY EIGHT PER CENT IN MAY OVER APRIL, THE VALUE OF IMPORTS ACTUALLY DECREASED BY ABOUT THREE PER CENT. HE SAID THAT, ALTHOUGH NOT TOO MUCH SHOULD BE READ INTO MONTH-TO-MONTH CHANGES. THE DECREASE IN IMPORTS DID NOT SEEM TO BE ATTRIBUTABLE TO SEASONAL FACTORS AND SO PROVIDED AN ADDITIONAL INDICATION THAT THE ECONOMY WAS FOLLOWING THE COURSE PREDICTED IN THE BUDGET SPEECH.
/FOLLOWING