WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1982
HONG KONG'S EXPORTS POISED TO CAPITALISE ON
WORLD ECONOMIC RECOVERY
*****
THE STABLE AND +VERY COMPETITIVE PRICES OF HONG KONG'S DOMESTIC EXPORTS WILL ENABLE THIS SECTOR TO CAPITALISE QUICKLY ON ANY ECONOMIC RECOVERY IN HONG KONG'S MAJOR MARKETS, THE GOVERNOR, SIR EDWARD YOUDE, SAID AT THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL MEETING TODAY.
+TO THE EXTENT THAT A CONCENSUS CAN BE DETECTED, IT IS THAT THINGS ARE LIKELY TO BE BETTER IN 1983 THAN IN 1982, + HE REMARKED.
HOPEFULLY, IMPROVED GROWTH IN SEVERAL ECONOMIES, SUCH AS THE UNITED STATES AND GERMANY, MIGHT BRING ABOUT SOME RECOVERY IN WORLD TRADE, SIR EDWARD SAID, ADDING THAT HONG KONG'S DOMESTIC EXPORTS SECTOR WITH ITS COMPETITIVE PRICES WOULD BE ABLE TO BENEFIT QUICKLY FROM THIS DEVELOPMENT.
REVIEWING HONG KONG'S ECONOMY FOR THIS YEAR, SIR EDWARD NOTED THAT THE GROWTH IN ITS GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT IS NOW EXPECTED TO BE IN THE ORDER OF ONLY FOUR PER CENT.
THE MAIN CAUSE OF THIS SLOWDOWN, HE SAID, WAS THAT DOMESTIC EXPORTS IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE YEAR WERE, IN REAL TERM, THREE PER CENT LESS THAN IN THE FIRST HALF OF 1981.
+ALTHOUGH SOME RECOVERY IS EXPECTED IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE YEAR, DOMESTIC EXPORTS SEEM LIKELY TO BE DOWN BY TWO PER CENT FOR THE YEAR AS A WHOLE.
+ IN TERMS OF EXPERIENCE IN RECENT YEARS SUCH AN OUTCOME IS DISAPPOINTING, HE SAID.
HE ADDED THAT NEVERTHELESS, CONTINUING GROWTH EVEN AT A REDUCED RATE HAD MEANT THAT HONG KONG APPEARED TO BE AVOIDING SERIOUS UNEMPLOYMENT.
THE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE IN MARCH WAS ONLY 3.5 PER CENT, SIGNIFICANTLY LESS THAN THE 4.1 PER CENT RECORDED A YEAR EARLIER, WHILE WAGES AND SALARIES HAD INCREASED ALL ROUND IN REAL TERMS, PARTLY DUE TO A SLOWER INFLATION RATE, SIR EDWARD NOTED.
INFLATION IS NOW RUNNING AT ABOUT 11 PER CENT PER ANNUM IN TERMS OF CONSUMER PRICES, AFTER REMAINING AT AROUND 15 PER CENT FOR TWO YEARS.
+WHILE THE TERTIARY SERVICES SECTORS OF OUR ECONOMY HAVE DEVELOPED RAPIDLY OUR MANUFACTURING SECTOR, STILL THE BACKBONE OF OUR ECONOMY AND THE MAIN EMPLOYER, HAS ALSO GROWN, ALBEIT AT A SLOWER RATE, HE POINTED OUT.
/HONG KONG'S