FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1981
ECONOMIC PROSPECTS BRIGHT, SAYS GOVERNOR
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IN SPITE OF PREDICTIONS OF MASSIVE UNEMPLOYMENT AND THE MANY DIFFICULTIES WHICH BESET OUR ECONOMY, UNEMPLOYMENT IN HONG KONG IS DROPPING AND THE GROWTH RATE OF OUR EXPORTS HAS STEADILY RECOVERED, THE GOVERNOR, SIR MURRAY MACLEHOSE, SAID TODAY (FRIDAY).
ADDRESSING A MEETING OF THE HONG KONG EXPORTERS' ASSOCIATION, SIR MURRAY SAID IN A YEAR OF RECESSION IN OUR MAJOR MARKETS OUR DOMESTIC EXPORTS HAVE BEEN REMARKABLY BUOYANT, AND WE STILL BELIEVE WILL SHOW A GROWTH IN REAL TERMS OF SOMETHING LIKE SEVEN PER CENT OVER THE PREVIOUS YEAR.
IT IS A FINE RESULT FROM A YEAR WHICH I KNOW HAS INCLUDED MANY DIFFICULTIES, LIKE HIGH INTEREST RATES, AND SQUEEZED MARGINS.+
SIR MURRAY SAID THE YEAR HAS PROVED ONCE AGAIN THAT IN CIRCUMSTANCES OF SHALLOW RECESSION IN DEVELOPED ECONOMIES WHOSE PUBLIC'S BUYING POWER IS SHIELDED BY COMPARATIVELY HIGH RATES OF SOCIAL SECURITY, OUR COMBINATION OF MANUFACTURERS AND EXPORTERS CAN CONTINUE TO SELL THE SORTS OF THINGS HONG KONG PRODUCES.
HE SAID THAT IN SPITE OF THE MANY DIFFICULTIES BROUGHT ON TO THE ECONOMY AND THE SOCIETY BY THE MASSIVE INFLUX OF IMMIGRANTS, AND THE RECESSION IN OUR MAJOR MARKETS, THE RESOURCES, INGENUITY, AND PROFESSIONALISM OF OUR EXPORTERS AND MANUFACTURERS HAVE SPARED US THE HORRORS OF MASSIVE UNEMPLOYMENT THAT WAS SO SHRILLY PREDICTED+
+ INDEED THANKFULLY THERE IS LITTLE UNEMPLOYMENT AND IT IS DROPPING, AND IN INDUSTRY MORE ARE EMPLOYED THAN EVER BEFORE IN HONG KONG'S LONG HISTORY.+
SIR MURRAY SAID THE ACCUSTOMED RATE OF INCREASE OF WAGES MIGHT HAVE BEEN DAMPENED. BUT IN PRESENT RESTRICTED EXPORT OPPORTUNITIES THIS IS A PRICE WHICH MOST WORKERS WOULD ACCEPT FOR CONTINUED EMPLOYMENT, JUST AS THEY WOULD EXPECT TO BE RECOMPENSED IN THE UP-SWING WHEN IT COMES, HE ADDED.
SIR MURRAY SAID DURING THE YEAR THE GROWTH RATE OF EXPORTS HAS STEADILY RECOVERED FROM THE LULL IN THE SECOND HALF OF 1980, THAT OF DOMESTIC CONSUMPTION HAS SLOWED, THE TRADE GAP HAS SHOWN SIGNS OF NARROWING, AND THE GROWTH RATE OF THE MONEY SUPPLY AND OF LOANS AND ADVANCES HAS EASED.
HE SAID THE GOVERNMENT IS HELPING THIS PHENOMENAL GROWTH OF OUR EXPORTS BY PROVIDING A STABLE SOCIAL, ECONOMIC AND FISCAL ENVIRONMENT.
+BUT MORE PARTICULARLY, IT TRIES TO HELP IN FOUR SPECIFIC WAYS: COMMERCIAL RELATIONS, TRADE AND INVESTMENT PROMOTION, TRADE FACILITATION AND TRADE REGULATIONS.+
REFERRING TO HONG KONG'S ECONOMIC PROSPECTS IN 1982, SIR MURRAY SAID HE WOULD BE SURPRISED IF OVER THE YEAR THE ECONOMY DID NOT CONTINUE TO SHOW A RAPID GROWTH RATE WITH CONTINUED FULL EMPLOYMENT.