FRIDAY, JULY 1, 1983
PRICE AND VOLUME MOVEMENTS OF EXTERNAL TRADE FOR APRIL 1983
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THE PRICES OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS AND RE-EXPORTS ROSE, ON AVERAGE, BY 4 PER CENT AND 5 PER CENT RESPECTIVELY SO THAT, FOR TOTAL EXPORTS, PRICES WERE UP BY 4 PER CENT IN APRIL THIS YEAR, AS COMPARED WITH APRIL 1982, ACCORDING TO STATISTICS RELEASED TODAY BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT.
MEANWHILE, THE PRICES OF IMPORTS ROSE BY 7 PER CENT. AS A RESULT, THE TERMS OF TRADE INDEX (EXPRESSED AS A RATIO OF THE TOTAL EXPORT PRICE INDEX TO THE IMPORT PRICE INDEX) DROPPED BY 3 PER CENT.
THE VOLUME OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS ROSE BY 12 PER CENT AND THAT OF RE-EXPORTS ROSE BY 11 PER CENT SO THAT AN 11 PER CENT INCREASE WAS RECORDED IN THE VOLUME OF TOTAL EXPORTS. MEANWHILE, THE VOLUME OF IMPORTS INCREASED BY 3 PER CENT,
PUTTING THESE COMPARATIVE FIGURES INTO CONTEXT, A GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT SPOKESMAN SAID THAT SINCE THE PRICES OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS AND OF RE-EXPORTS INCREASED BY 4 PER CENT AND 3 PER CENT RESPECTIVELY IN THE FIRST FOUR MONTHS OF 1983 COMPARED WITH THE SAME PERIOD LAST YEAR, DOMESTIC EXPORTS GREW BY 5 PER CENT AND RE-EXPORTS BY 4 PER CENT IN VOLUME TERMS. THESE GROWTH RATES ARE VERY ENCOURAGING, HE ADDED. AS THE PRICES OF IMPORTS WERE 5 PER CENT HIGHER OVER THE SAME PERIOD, IMPORTS RECORDED ZERO GROWTH IN VOLUME TERMS.
EXTENDING THE PERIOD OF COMPARISON TO THE TWELVE MONTHS ENDING APRIL THIS YEAR WITH THE TWELVE MONTHS ENDING APRIL 1982, THE PRICES OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS AND IMPORTS BOTH ROSE, ON AVERAGE, BY 4 PER CENT AND THOSE OF RE-EXPORTS BY 6 PER CENT. THE VOLUME OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS AND RE-EXPORTS BOTH DECREASED BY ONE PER CENT. THUS GIVING A ONE PER CENT DECREASE IN THE VOLUME OF TOTAL EXPORTS, A ONE PER CENT DROP WAS ALSO RECORDED IN THE VOLUME OF IMPORTS.
PRICES ARE BASED ON UNIT VALUES WHICH DO NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT CHANGES IN THE COMPOSITION OR QUALITY OF GOODS TRADED. CHANGES IN THE VOLUME OF TRADE ARE DERIVED FROM CHANGES IN TRADE VALUES, AFTER DISCOUNTING THE EFFECT OF PRICE CHANGES.
UNIT VALUE AND VOLUME OF DOMESTIC SHOWN IN TABLE 1.
THE CHANGES IN THE VALUE, EXPORTS BY COMMODITY GROUP ARE
AS SEEN FROM TABLE 1, THE EXPORT PRICES OF MOST COMMODITY GROUPS INCREASED, FROM 5 PER CENT FOR BOTH FOOTWEAR AND CLOTHING (EXCEPT FUR) TO 36 PER CENT FOR ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS, ON THE OTHER HAND, DECREASES IN EXPORT PRICES WERE RECORDED FOR RADIOS OF ALL KINDS (-1%), DOMESTIC ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES (-2%), METAL MANUFACTURES AND TEXTILE YARN AND THREAD (-3% FOR EACH CATEGORY) AND WATCHES AND CLOCKS (-8).
/CONSIDERABLE GROWTH