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SATURDAY, MAY 24, 1986
PROVISIONAL TRADE FIGURES FOR APRIL
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THE VALUE OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS IN APRIL 1986, AT $11 346 MILLION, GREW BY 17.5 PER CENT OR $1 688 MILLION COMPARED WITH APRIL 1985, WHILE THE VALUE OF RE-EXPORTS GREW BY 0.6 PER CENT OR 361 MILLION TO $9 560 MILLION, ACCORDING TO THE PROVISIONAL TRADE FIGURES PUBLISHED TODAY BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT.
TAK ING DOMESTIC EXPORTS AND RE-EXPORTS TOGETHER, THE VALUE OF TOTAL EXPORTS, AT $20 908 MILLION, WAS 9.1 PER CENT OR $1 749 MILLION HIGHER THAN IN APRIL 1985.
THE VALUE OF IMPORTS GREW BY 13.5 PER CENT OR $2 678 MILLION OVER APRIL 1985 TO REACH $22 477 MILLION.
AS THE VALUE OF IMPORTS GREW AT A FASTER RATE THAN THAT OF TOTAL EXPORTS, THE VISIBLE TRADE GAP, THAT IS THE PROPORTION OF THE VALUE OF IMPORTS NOT COVERED BY THAT OF TOTAL EXPORTS, WIDENED TO 7.0 PER CENT IN APRIL 1986 FROM 3.2 PER CENT IN APRIL 1985.
PUTTING THE MONTH'S TRADE FIGURES INTO CONTEXT, A GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN POINTED OUT THAT THE VALUE OF TOTAL EXPORTS FOR THE FIRST FOUR MONTHS OF 1986 WAS $74 059 MILLION, MADE UP OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS OF $40 494 MILLION AND RE-EXPORTS OF $33 565 MILLION,
COMPARED WITH THE FIRST FOUR MONTHS OF 1985, THE VALUE OF TOTAL EXPORTS GREW BY $451 MILLION OR 0.6 PER CENT, AND OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS BY #1 859 MILLION OR 4.8 PER CENT, WHILE THE VALUE OF RE-EXPORTS FELL BY $1 408 MILLION OR 4.0 PER CENT.
OVER THIS PERIOD, THE VALUE OF IMPORTS GREW BY $4 351 MILL ION OR 5.9 PER CENT, TO $78 149 MILLION. AS THE VALUE OF IMPORTS GREW AT A FASTER RATE THAN THAT OF TOTAL EXPORTS, THE VISIBLE TRADE GAP FOR THE FIRST FOUR MONTHS OF 1986 WIDENED TO 5.2 PER CENT, FROM 0.3 PER CENT FOR THE CORRESPONDING PERIOD IN 1985.
COMMENTING ON THESE FIGURES, A GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT SPOKESMAN SAID THAT AFTER HAVING DECLINED FOR MOST OF 1985 IN TERMS OF YEAR-ON-YEAR COMPARISON, THE VALUE OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS RECOVERED IN THE FIRST QUARTER OF 1986 AND THIS TREND CONTINUED INTO APRIL.
IMPROVED ECONOMIC GROWTH IN THE UNITED STATES IN THE FIRST QUARTER AND THE DEPRECIATION OF THE HONG KONG DOLLAR AGAINST MOST MAJOR CURRENCIES OTHER THAN THE US DOLLAR CONTRIBUTED TO THIS RECOVERY.
ON THE OTHER HAND, THE VALUE OF RE-EXPORTS DECLINED BY 6 PER CENT IN THE FIRST QUARTER AND GREW MARGINALLY IN APRIL, PROBABLY REFLECTING THE EFFECT OF CHINA'S INCREASED CONTROLS OVER ITS FOREIGN EXCHANGE SPENDING.
'THE FOLLOWING