THURSDAY, JUNE 28, 1984
2
EXPORT GROWTH KEEPS UP
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THE VALUE OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS IN MAY 1984 ROSE BY 46 PER CENT OR $3 709 MILLION, OVER THE MAY 1983 FIGURE, TO REACH $11 712 MILLION, ACCORDING TO PROVISIONAL TRADE FIGURES FOR THE MONTH PUBLISHED TODAY BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT.
THE VALUE OF RE-EXPORTS INCREASED, BY 57 PER CENT OR $2 404 MILLION, TO $6 662 MILLION.
THE VALUE OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS AND RE-EXPORTS TAKEN TOGETHER, AT $18 374 MILLION, WAS 50 PER CENT OR $6 113 MILLION HIGHER THAN THE FIGURE A YEAR AGO.
COMMENTING ON THESE COMPARATIVE FIGURES, A GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN SAID THAT THE STRONG GROWTH IN DOMESTIC EXPORTS WAS SUSTAINED IN MAY AS THE ECONOMIES OF SEVERAL OF HONG KONG'S MAJOR MARKETS CONTINUED TO IMPROVE.
+THE WEAKNESS OF THE HONG KONG DOLLAR, COMPARED WITH THE EARLY PART OF 1983, HAS ALSO ENHANCED HONG KONG'S EXTERNAL COMPETITIVENESS, THE SPOKESMAN SAID.
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IMPORTS REACHED $18 869 MILLION IN MAY 1984, AN INCREASE OF 35 PER CENT OR $4 936 MILLION OVER THE FIGURE FOR MAY LAST YEAR.
THE VISIBLE TRADE DEFICIT FOR MAY THIS YEAR WAS $495 MILLION, COMPARED WITH $1 672 MILLION IN MAY LAST YEAR.
AS THE VALUE OF TOTAL EXPORTS INCREASED AT A FASTER RATE THAN THAT OF IMPORTS, THE VISIBLE TRADE GAP, THAT IS THE PROPORTION OF THE VALUE OF IMPORTS NOT COVERED BY THAT OF TOTAL EXPORTS, NARROWED SIGNIFICANTLY TO THREE PER CENT IN MAY 1984 FROM 12 PER CENT IN MAY 1983.
PUTTING THE MONTH'S TRADE FIGURES INTO CONTEXT, THE SPOKESMAN POINTED OUT THAT THE VALUE OF TOTAL EXPORTS FOR THE FIRST FIVE MONTHS OF 1984 WAS $80 749 MILLION, MADE UP OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS OF $50 275 MILLION AND RE-EXPORTS OF $30 474 MILLION.
COMPARED WITH THE FIRST FIVE MONTHS OF 1983, THE VALUE OF TOTAL EXPORTS INCREASED BY $26 922 MILLION OR 50 PER CENT, DOMESTIC EXPORTS BY $16 034 MILLION OR 47 PER CENT, AND RE-EXPORTS BY $10 888 MILLION OR 56 PER CENT.
THE VALUE OF IMPORTS INCREASED BY $24 585 MILLION OR 40 PER CENT, TO $86 181 MILLION.
AS THE GROWTH RATE OF THE VALUE OF TOTAL EXPORTS WAS FASTER THAN THAT OF IMPORTS, THE VISIBLE TRADE GAP NARROWED TO SIX PER CENT IN THE FIRST FIVE MONTHS OF THIS YEAR, COMPARED WITH 13 PER CENT IN THE SAME PERIOD OF 1983.
/THE FOLLOWING