TUESDAY, MAY 26, 1981
3
THE VISIBLE TRADE +GAP+ THAT IS THE PROPORTION OF THE VALUE OF IMPORTS NOT COVERED BY THE VALUE OF TOTAL EXPORTS, WAS 19.5 PER CENT IN APRIL THIS YEAR, THE SAME AS THAT IN APRIL 1980.
COMMENTING ON THE FIGURES, A GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN POINTED OUT THAT, ALTHOUGH THE GROWTH RATE OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS FOR APRIL APPEARED TO BE LOW COMPARED WITH PREVIOUS MONTHS, THE VISIBLE TRADE ACCOUNT CONTINUED TO SHOW A FAIR DEGREE OF STABILITY. THE GROWTH RATE OF TOTAL EXPORTS WAS ROUGHLY THE SAME AS THAT OF IMPORTS AND THE VISIBLE TRADE +GAP+ DID NOT SHOW ANY TENDENCY TO WIDEN. THE ENTREPOT TRADE ALSO CONTINUED TO EXPAND RAPIDLY.
A COMPARISON BETWEEN THE FIRST FOUR MONTHS OF THIS YEAR WITH THE CORRESPONDING PERIOD IN 1980 SHOWED THE SAME PATTERN.
THE GROWTH RATE OF THE VALUE OF TOTAL EXPORTS, AT 26.7 PER CENT, WAS SLIGHTLY HIGHER THAN THE GROWTH RATE OF THE VALUE OF IMPORTS AT 26 PER CENT.
THE VISIBLE TRADE +GAP+ IN THE FIRST FOUR MONTHS OF THIS YEAR, AT 18.2 PER CENT, WAS SLIGHTLY NARROWER THAN IN THE CORRESPONDING PERIOD IN 1980 AT 18.7 PER CENT.
THE GROWTH RATE OF THE VALUE OF RE-EXPORTS WAS HIGH AT 54.2 PER CENT, MUCH HIGHER THAN THE GROWTH RATE OF THE VALUE OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS WHICH, AT 14.7 PER CENT, WAS BY ITSELF QUITE IMPRESSIVE.
MERCHANDISE :
DOMESTIC EXPORTS
RE-EXPORTS
# $ 5 844 MILLION
: $ 3 328 MILLION
TOTAL EXPORTS
IMPORTS
: $9 172 MILLION
■ $11 398 MILLION
TRADE BALANCE
: $ 2 226 MILLION (IN DEFICIT)
COMPARATIVE FIGURES
LATEST 3 MONTHS
FEBRUARY-APRIL 1981
FEBRUARY-APRIL 1980
INCREASE OR
DECREASE
$ MN.
$ MN.
$ MN.
%
DOMESTIC EXPORTS
15 562
14 096
+1 467 +10.4
RE-EXPORTS
9 525
6 289
+3 236 +51.5
TOTAL EXPORTS
25 088
20 385
+4 703 +23.1
IMPORTS
31 793
25 594
+6 200 +24.2
TRADE BALANCE
-
6 705
- 5 209
-1 496
/SAME MONTH