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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 1986
THE DEMAND FOR INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY SHOWED SOME INCREASE FOLLOWING THE REVIVAL IN MANUFACTURING ACTIVITY.
ON BUILDING INTENTIONS, THE TOTAL USABLE FLOOR AREA ON BUILDING PLANS WITH CONSENT TO COMMENCE WORK INCREASED BY 26 PER CENT IN THE FIRST NINE MONTHS OF 1986 OVER THE SAME PERIOD LAST YEAR, THE INCREASE BEING MOST SIGNIFICANT FOR COMMERCIAL PROPERTY.
ON PRICES, THE REPORT NOTES THAT THE RATE OF INFLATION REMAINED LOW IN THE THIRD QUARTER, NOTWITHSTANDING SOME ACCELERATION IN THE RATE OF INCREASE IN IMPORT PRICES SINCE THE SECOND QUARTER OF THIS YEAR.
AMONG THE FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO THIS LOW INFLATION RATE, AGGREGATE DEMAND IN THE ECONOMY WAS NOT IMPOSING MUCH PRESSURE ON THE GENERAL PRICE LEVEL, WORLD COMMODITY PRICES REMAINED SOFT, AND IMPORT PRICES OF GOODS FROM CHINA FELL.
USING THE CONSUMER PRICE INDICES AS AN INDICATOR, THE YEAR-ON- YEAR RATE OF INCREASE IN THE CONSUMER PRICE INDEX (A), AT 2.6 PER CENT IN THE THIRD QUARTER OF 1986, WAS ABOUT THE SAME AS IN THE PREVIOUS TWO QUARTERS.
ON THE SAME BASIS OF COMPARISON, THE CONSUMER PRICE INDEX (B) WAS ON AVERAGE 3.3 PER CENT HIGHER IN THE THIRD QUARTER, WHILE THE HANG SENG CONSUMER PRICE INDEX WAS 5.5 PER CENT HIGHER. FOR THE FIRST NINE MONTHS AS A WHOLE, THE CORRESPONDING YEAR-ON-YEAR RATES OF INCREASE IN THE THREE CONSUMER PRICE INDICES WERE 2.6 PER CENT, 3.3 PER CENT AND 5.0 PER CENT.
THE THIRD QUARTER ECONOMIC REPORT 1986 IS ON SALE AT THE GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS CENTRE IN CONNAUGHT PLACE AT $12 A COPY.
CONSUMER PRICE INDEXES FOR OCTOBER
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THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT TODAY PUBLISHED THE CONSUMER PRICE INDEXES FOR OCTOBER 1986. THE NEW CPI(A) AND NEW CPI(B) (OCTOBER 84-SEPTEMBER 85 - 100) FOR OCTOBER 1986 WERE 104.8 AND 105.2 RESPECTIVELY, REPRESENTING INCREASES OF 3.2 PER CENT AND 3.6 PER CENT RESPECTIVELY OVER OCTOBER 1985.
COMPARED WITH SEPTEMBER 1986 AND BEARING IN MIND THAT THIS COMPARISON MAY BE AFFECTED BY SEASONAL FACTORS, THE NEW CPI(A) INCREASED BY 0.2 PER CENT AND THE NEW CPI(B), BY 0.4 PER CENT.
THE 1979-80-BASED