WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 1980
7
HE ADDED THIS UNEXPECTEDLY HIGH GROWTH RATE WAS THE RESULT OF A HIGHER THAN EXPECTED GROWTH RATE OF DEMAND FOR OUR EXPORTS WHICH WE WERE ABLE TO MEET AS A RESULT OF A RAPID EXPANSION
IN THE PRODUCTIVE CAPACITY OF THE ECONOMY.
+THIS IN TURN, WAS THE RESULT OF THE UNEXPECTEDLY HIGH GROWTH RATE OF THE POPULATION, RATHER THAN ADDITIONAL PRODUCTIVITY.
THIS IS REFLECTED IN THE FACT THAT THE PRELIMINARY ESTIMATE OF THE GROWTH RATE OF GDP IN PER CAPITA TERMS AT 4.8 PER CENT IS IN LINE WITH THE FORECAST. AS SHIFTS IN THE TERMS OF TRADE WERE INSIGNIFICANT IN 1979, THE GROWTH RATE OF REAL INCOME AT 11.18 PER CENT WAS ROUGHLY THE SAME AS THAT OF GDP, AT CONSTANT PRICES, THE PRELIMINARY ESTIMATE OF GDP IN 1979 IS $56 577 MILLION.+
BUT AT CURRENT PRICES, HE SAID THE PRELIMINARY ESTIMATE OF GDP FOR 1979 WAS $87 345 MILLION, OR 26.4 PER CENT HIGHER THAN THAT IN 1978.
SIR PHILIP SAID THIS EXCEEDED HIS FORECAST OF 16 PER CENT BECAUSE, IN ADDITION TO THE HIGHER THAN EXPECTED GROWTH RATE OF GDP IN REAL TERMS, THE RATE OF INCREASE IN PRICES WAS HIGHER THAN EXPECTED.
+THE GDP DEFLATOR INCREASED BY 13.3 PER CENT COMPARED WITH MY FORECAST OF 8 PER CENT AND CONSUMER PRICES INCREASED BY 11.7 PER CENT COMPARED WITH MY FORECAST OF 9 PER CENT, HE SAID.
SIR PHILIP POINTED OUT THAT FOR THE FOURTH CONSECUTIVE YEAR THE GROWTH RATE OF THE ECONOMY WAS SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER THAN THE TREND GROWTH RATE OF 9 PER CENT.
+THIS IS A REMARKABLE RECORD INDEED, NOTWITHSTANDING THAT THE GROWTH RATE OF GDP PER CAPITA HAS BEEN SLOWED DOWN DURING THE FOUR POST-RECESSION YEARS FROM 17.5 PER CENT IN 1976, TO 8.1 PER CENT IN 1977, TO 7.8 PER CENT IN 1978, TO 4.8 PER CENT
IN 1979, DUE TO THE EFFECTS OF IMMIGRATION ON THE GROWTH RATE OF POPULATION IN 1978 AND PARTICULARLY, OF COURSE, IN 1979,+ HE ADDED.
/8