R
TUESDAY, MAY 26, 1987
AS THE GROWTH IN THE VALUE OF IMPORTS WAS SLOWER THAN THAT OF TOTAL EXPORTS, THE VISIBLE TRADE GAP (THAT IS, THE PROPORTION OF THE VALUE OF IMPORTS NOT COVERED BY THE VALUE OF TOTAL EXPORTS) IN APRIL 1987 NARROWED TO 5.6 PER CENT, COMPARED WITH A GAP OF SEVEN PER CENT IN APRIL 1986. HOWEVER, IN ABSOLUTE VALUE TERMS THE VISIBLE TRADE DEFICIT RECORDED IN APRIL 1987, AT $1 695 MILLION, WAS $126 MILLION MORE THAN THAT PECORDED IN APRIL 1986.
PUTTING THE MONTH'S TRADE FIGURES INTO CONTEXT, THE VALUE OF TOTAL EXPORTS FOR THE FIRST FOUR MONTHS OF 1987 WAS $103 806 MILLION, MADE UP OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS OF $53 066 MILLION AND RE-EXPORTS OF $50 740 MILLION.
COMPARED WITH THE SAME PERIOD IN 1986, THE VALUE OF TOTAL EXPORTS CREW BY $29 747 MILLION OR 40.2 PER CENT, THAT OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS BY $12 572 MILLION OR 31 PER CENT, AND THAT OF RE-EXPORTS BY $17 175 MILLION OR 51.2 PER CENT.
OVER THIS PERIOD, THE VALUE OF IMPORTS GREW BY $30 705 MILLION OR 39.3 PER CENT, TO $108 854 MILLION.
A CUMULATIVE VISIBLE TRADE DEFICIT OF $5 048 MILLION, EQUIVALENT TO 4.6 PER CENT OF THE VALUE OF IMPORTS, WAS RECORDED IN THE FIRST FOUR MONTHS OF 1987. THIS COMPARES WITH A VISIBLE TRADE DEFICIT OF $4 090 MILLION IN THE FIRST FOUR MONTHS OF 1986, WHICH WAS EQUIVALENT TO 5.2 PER CENT OF THE VALUE OF IMPORTS IN THAT PERIOD.
COMMENTING ON THESE FIGURES, A GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT SPOKESMAN SAID THAT THE GROWTH MOMENTUM OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS IN THE LATTER PART OF 1986 HAD CONTINUED INTO THE FIRST FOUR MONTHS OF THIS YEAR, REFLECTING STRONG DEMAND FOR HONG KONG PRODUCTS IN OVERSEAS MARKETS AND THE STIMULATING EFFECT OF THE DEPRECIATION OF THE HONG KONG DOLLAR, IN LINE WITH THAT OF THE US DOLLAR, AGAINST MOST OTHER MAJOR CURRENCIES DURING THE COURSE OF 1986 AND THE EARLY MONTHS OF 1987.
THE VERY RAPID GROWTH IN RE-EXPORTS IN THE FIRST FOUR MONTHS OF 1987 WAS LARGELY ATTRIBUTABLE TO THE FLOURISHING ENTREPOT TRADE WITH CHINA, WHICH FEATURED PROMINENTLY BOTH AS A SOURCE AND AS A MARKET FOR HONG KONG'S RE-EXPORTS. THE SPOKESMAN ADDED THAT, GIVEN THE STRONG GROWTH IN IMPORTS, EXPORT PERFORMANCE WAS LIKELY TO REMAIN GOOD IN THE COMING MONTHS.
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