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THURSDAY, AUgust 25, 1988
DOMESTIC EXPORTS TO THE UNITED STATES, IN PARTICULAR,
A DECLINE IN REAL TERMS.
RECORDED
MARKET,
DOMESTIC EXPORTS TO CHINA, HONG KONG'S SECOND LARGEST GREW BY ABOUT 27 PER CENT IN REAL TERMS IN THE FIRST HALF OF 1988 OVER A YEAR EARLIER.
THE CONTINUED UPSURGE IN IMPORTS BY CHINA TO SATISFY ITS OWN DEMAND APPARENTLY ACCOUNTED FOR A SIGNIFICANT PART OF THIS GROWTH. THE CONTINUED EXPANSION IN OUTWARD PROCESSING TRADE WAS PROBABLY ANOTHER CONTRIBUTORY FACTOR.
DOMESTIC EXPORTS TO THE UNITED KINGDOM, JAPAN AND THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY GREW BY ABOUT 15 PER CENT, 12 PER CENT, AND 7 PER CENT RESPECTIVELY IN REAL TERMS.
IN THE FIRST HALF OF 1988, RE-EXPORTS WERE 42 PER CENT HIGHER IN REAL TERMS THAN IN THE FIRST HALF OF 1987 DUE MAINLY TO A CONTINUED SURGE IN THE RE-EXPORT TRADE WITH CHINA.
·
ROSE TO
AS A RESULT, THE SHARE OF RE-EXPORTS IN TOTAL EXPORTS 55 PER CENT IN THE FIRST HALF OF 1988, FROM 48 PER CENT IN THE SAME PERIOD LAST YEAR.
RE-EXPORT TRADE WHICH DID NOT HAVE CHINA, EITHER AS A SOURCE OR AS A MARKET, ALSO GREW RAPIDLY IN THE FIRST HALF OF 1988, REFLECTING HONG KONG'S INCREASING IMPORTANCE AS AN ENTREPOT SERVING THE ASIA-PACIFIC REGION AS A WHOLE.
OVER THE SAME PERIOD, IMPORTS GREW BY ABOUT 23 PER CENT IN REAL TERMS, BUT RETAINED IMPORTS ROSE - MUCH MORE SLOWLY, AT ABOUT 6 PER CENT IN REAL TERMS.
THE REPORT POINTS OUT THAT A VISIBLE TRADE DEFICIT OF $8.752 MILLION, EQUIVALENT TO 4 PER CENT OF THE VALUE OF IMPORTS. WAS
RECORDED IN THE FIRST HALF OF THIS YEAR.
THE SIZE OF THIS VISIBLE TRADE GAP (THE PROPORTION OF THE VALUE OF IMPORTS NOT COVERED BY RECEIPTS FROM TOTAL EXPORTS) WAS SIMILAR TO THAT IN THE FIRST HALF OF 1987.
ON THE FINANCIAL SECTOR, THE REPORT NOTES THE FOLLOWING DEVELOPMENTS, FIRST, THE MARKET EXCHANGE RATE OF THE DOLLAR AGAINST THE U.S. DOLLAR MOVED WITHIN A NARROW MARGIN THE LINKED RATE OF HK$7.8 TO US$1 DURING THE FIRST HALF SPECULATION ON A REVALUATION OF THE HONG KONG DOLLAR LARGELY
AFTER JANUARY.
HONG KONG CLOSE TO OF 1988. SUBSIDED
SECONDLY, REFLECTING THE STRENGTH OF THE U.S. DOLLAR. THE OVERALL EXCHANGE VALUE OF THE HONG KONG DOLLAR, MEASURED IN TERMS OF THE EFFECTIVE EXCHANGE RATE INDEX, ROSE FROM 100.5 AT THE END OF 1987 TO 102.7 AT THE END OF JUNE 1988.
/THIRDLY, LOCAL