FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 1979
3
'PLASTICS' AND 'ELECTRICAL MACHINERY, APPLIANCES AND SUPPLIES' HAD A GOOD THIRD QUARTER BUT EXPECTED A DOWNTURN IN THE FOURTH QUARTER.
THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY ACHIEVED MILD ADVANCES DESPITE EARLIER EXPECTATIONS TO THE CONTRARY. IT HOLDS THE VIEW THAT IMPROVEMENTS WILL COME IN THE FOURTH QUARTER, AFTER PREDICTING PESSIMISTICALLY IN THE PREVIOUS TWO QUARTERS.
FOR THE SERVICES SECTOR, THE 'WHOLESALE AND RETAIL TRADE' "RESTAURANTS', 'HOTELS' AND 'TRANSPORTATION REPORTED MODERATE IMPROVEMENTS IN THE THIRD QUARTER AND EXPRESSED MUCH CONFIDENCE IN THE FOURTH QUARTER.
BANKING REPORTED A STEADY THIRD QUARTER AND LOOKED FORWARD ALSO TO A STEADY FOURTH QUARTER. THE 'MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS SERVICES' REPORTED SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS IN THE THIRD QUARTER AND IS OPTIMISTIC THAT THERE WILL BE YET FURTHER ADVANCES.
THE SPOKESMAN SAID THAT THE DATA, OBTAINED WITH A MINIMUM TIME LAG, WERE BASICALLY INTENDED TO FACILITATE A QUICK ASSESSMENT OF THE CURRENT ECONOMIC SITUATION IN HONG KONG.
APART FROM A LIMITED NUMBER OF QUESTIONS REQUIRING ANSWERS IN QUANTITATIVE TERMS, FIRMS WERE ASKED TO COMPARE THE QUARTER JUST PAST WITH THE PREVIOUS QUARTER AND SIMILARLY FOR THE FORTHCOMING ONE. THEY ONLY HAD TO INDICATE WHETHER, IN THEIR OPINION, A CERTAIN VARIABLE WAS 'UP', 'SAME' OR 'DOWN'.
THE SPOKESMAN SAID IN A SURVEY OF THIS NATURE, CONSIDERABLE RESERVATIONS MUST BE MADE IN THE INTERPRETATION OF RESULTS, AS IT WAS DIFFICULT TO ESTABLISH THE EXTENT TO WHICH THE RESPONDENTS' PRECEPTION OF THE PAST AND THE FUTURE ACCORDS WITH THE UNDERLYING TRENDS AND THE SURVEY RESULTS ARE PROBABLY AFFECTED CONSIDERABLY BY SEASONS.
COPIES OF THE REPORT, CONTAINING AN ANALYSIS OF AND STATISTICAL TABLES ON VARIOUS ECONOMIC VARIABLES, HAVE BEEN DISTRIBUTED TO FIRMS TAKING PART IN THE SURVEY AND OTHER BUSINESS ORGANISATIONS,
14