FRIDAY, MARCH 26, 1982
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PROVISIONAL TRADE FIGURES FOR FEBRUARY 1982
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THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT TODAY PUBLISHED THE PROVISIONAL TRADE FIGURES FOR HONG KONG'S VISIBLE TRADE IN FEBRUARY 1982.
THE VALUE OF TOTAL EXPORTS FOR FEBRUARY WAS $8 290 MILLION, MADE UP OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS AT $4 694 MILLION AND RE-EXPORTS AT $3 597 MILLION.
WITH IMPORTS AT $11 220 MILLION, THE VISIBLE TRADE DEFICIT FOR FEBRUARY WAS $2 930 MILLION.
WHEN COMPARED WITH THE FIGURES FOR FEBRUARY 1981, THE PROVISIONAL TRADE FIGURES SHOW THE FOLLOWING INCREASES BY VALUE 1 $755 MILLION OR 19 PER CENT FOR DOMESTIC EXPORTS, $718 MILLION OR 25 PER CENT FOR RE-EXPORTS, $1 473 MILLION OR 22 PER CENT FOR TOTAL EXPORTS AND $2 130 MILLION OR 23 PER CENT FOR IMPORTS.
THE VISIBLE TRADE +GAP+, THAT IS THE PROPORTION OF THE VALUE OF IMPORTS NOT COVERED BY THE VALUE OF TOTAL EXPORTS, AT 26.1 PER CENT IN FEBRUARY THIS YEAR, WAS SOMEWHAT LARGER THAN IN FEBRUARY 1981 AT 25 PER CENT.
COMMENTING ON THE FIGURES, A GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN SAID THAT THEY WERE AS USUAL HEAVILY INFLUENCED BY THE DATE OF THE LUNAR NEW YEAR HOLIDAY THIS CAUSED WIDE SWINGS IN THE AMOUNT OF GOODS SHIPPED INTO AND OUT OF HONG KONG IN JANUARY AND FEBRUARY, WHICH THEREFORE DISTORTED MONTH-BY-MONTH COMPARISONS FROM ONE YEAR TO THE NEXT.
THE SPOKESMAN POINTED OUT THAT WHEN THE FIGURES FOR THE FIRST TWO MONTHS OF THIS YEAR WERE TAKEN TOGETHER AND WERE COMPARED WITH FIGURES FOR THE CORRESPONDING PERIOD IN 1981. THE VALUE OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS SHOWED AN INCREASE OF ONLY 6 PER CENT.
THIS HE SAID WAS NOT UNEXPECTED, GIVEN THE SLOW GROWTH RATE OF IMPORTS OF RAW MATERIALS AND SEMI-MANUFACTURERS IN RECENT MONTHS.
USING THE SAME COMPARISON, THE VALUE OF RE-EXPORTS SHOWED AN INCREASE OF 12 PER CENT WHICH WAS ALSO SLOW IN TERMS OF RECENT EXPERIENCE. THUS THE VALUE OF TOTAL EXPORTS SHOWED AN INCREASE OF 8 PER CENT, WHICH WAS HIGHER THAN THE INCREASE IN IMPORTS OF 7 PER CENT.
THE VISIBLE TRADE GAP IN THE FIRST TWO MONTHS OF THIS YEAR WAS, AT 16 PER CENT, SLIGHTLY NARROWER THAN IN THE FIRST TWO MONTHS OF 1981, AT 16.6 PER CENT.
/TRADE FIGURES
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