THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 1986
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PROVISIONAL TRADE FIGURES FOR MAY
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THE VALUE OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS IN MAY 1986, AT $12 334 MILLION, GREW BY 14.0 PER CENT OR $1 518 MILLION COMPARED WITH MAY 1985 WHILE THE VALUE OF RE-EXPORTS GREW BY 5.8 PER CENT OR $541 MILLION TO $9 869 MILLION, ACCORDING TO THE PROVISIONAL TRADE FIGURES PUBLISHED TODAY BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT.
TAKING DOMESTIC EXPORTS AND RE-EXPORTS TOGETHER, THE VALUE OF TOTAL EXPORTS, AT $22 203 MILLION, WAS 10.2 PER CENT OR $2 059 MILLION HIGHER THAN IN MAY 1985.
THE VALUE OF IMPORTS GREW BY 16.3 PER CENT OR $3 134 MILLION OVER MAY 1985 TO REACH $22 350 MILLION.
AS THE VALUE OF IMPORTS GREW AT A FASTER RATE THAN THAT OF TOTAL EXPORTS, A VISIBLE TRADE GAP (THAT IS THE PROPORTION OF THE VALUE OF IMPORTS NOT COVERED BY THAT OF TOTAL EXPORTS) OF 0.7 PER CENT WAS RECORDED IN MAY 1986, COMPARED WITH A VISIBLE TRADE SURPLUS IN' MAY 1985 WHICH WAS EQUIVALENT TO 4.8 PER CENT OF IMPORTS.
PUTTING THE MONTH'S TRADE FIGURES INTO CONTEXT. A GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN POINTED OUT THAT THE VALUE OF TOTAL EXPORTS FOR THE FIRST FIVE MONTHS OF 1986 WAS $96 262 MILLION, MADE UP OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS OF $52 828 MILLION AND RE-EXPORTS OF $43 434 MILLION.
COMPARED WITH THE FIRST FIVE MONTHS OF 1985, THE VALUE OF TOTAL EXPORTS GREW BY $2 510 MILLION OR 2.7 PER CENT, AND OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS BY $3 377 MILLION OR 6.8 PER CENT, WHILE THE VALUE OF RE-EXPORTS FELL BY $867 MILLION OR 2.0 PER CENT, OVER THIS PERIOD, THE VALUE OF IMPORTS GREW BY $7 485 MILLION OR 8.0 PER CENT, TO $100 499 MILLION.
AS THE VALUE OF IMPORTS GREW AT A FASTER RATE THAN THAT OF TOTAL EXPORTS. A VISIBLE TRADE GAP OF 4.2 PER CENT WAS RECORDED IN THE FIRST FIVE MONTHS OF 1986, COMPARED WITH A VISIBLE TRADE SURPLUS, EQUIVALENT TO 0.8 PER CENT OF THE VALUE OF IMPORTS, IN THE FIRST FIVE MONTHS OF 1985.
COMMENTING ON THESE FIGURES, A GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT SPOKESMAN SAID THAT THE DECLINE IN DOMESTIC EXPORTS (YEAR-ON-YEAR) EXPERIENCED DURING MOST OF 1985 WAS ARRESTED TOWARDS THE END OF THE YEAR AND THE RECOVERY SEEMS TO HAVE GATHERED MOMENTUM SINCE MARCH 1986.
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 U.S. DOLLAR WERE THE MAIN CONTRIBUTORY FACTORS.
ON THE