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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 1988
DOMESTIC EXPORTS TO THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY, HOWEVER, GREW BY ONLY ABOUT 2 PER CENT IN REAL TERMS, AND EXPORTS TO THE UNITED STATES, HONG KONG'S LARGEST MARKET, FELL BY ABOUT 7 PER IN REAL TERMS.
IN CONSEQUENCE, THE SHARE OF THE UNITED STATES MARKET KONG'S OVERALL DOMESTIC EXPORTS DECLINED FROM A HIGH OF 47 RECORDED IN THE THIRD QUARTER OF 1985 TO 33 PER CENT IN QUARTER OF 1988.
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THIRD
IN THE THIRD QUARTER, RE-EXPORTS WERE ABOUT 50 PER CENT HIGHER IN REAL TERMS THAN IN THE SAME QUARTER LAST YEAR, ATTRIBUTABLE LARGELY TO A CONTINUED UPSURGE IN RE-EXPORT TRADE WITH CHINA.
AS A RESULT, THE SHARE OF
RE-EXPORTS IN HONG KONG'S TOTAL EXPORTS ROSE TO 55 PER CENT IN THE THIRD QUARTER OF 1988, FROM 47 PER CENT IN THE THIRD QUARTER LAST YEAR.
RE-EXPORT TRADE WHICH DID NOT INVOLVE CHINA, EITHER AS A SOURCE OR AS A MARKET, ALSO SHOWED SIGNIFICANT GROWTH, REFLECTING HONG KONG'S RE-EMERGING ROLE AS AN ENTREPOT SERVING THE ASTA-PACIFIC
REGION AS A WHOLE.
COMPARING THE THIRD QUARTER WITH A YEAR EARLIER,
IMPORTS GREW
BY ABOUT 31 PER CENT, AND RETAINED IMPORTS BY ABOUT 12 PER CENT IN REAL TERMS.
THE REPORT INDICATES THAT FOR THE FIRST NINE MONTHS OF 1988 AS A WHOLE, A VISIBLE TRADE DEFICIT OF $5,282 MILLION, EQUIVALENT TO 1 PER CENT OF THE VALUE OF IMPORTS, WAS RECORDED.
DURING THE SAME PERIOD LAST YEAR, THE VISIBLE TRADE ACCOUNT WAS VIRTUALLY IN BALANCE, WITH A SURPLUS OF ONLY $65 MILLION.
ON THE FINANCIAL SECTOR, THE REPORT NOTES THE DEVELOPMENTS IN THE THIRD QUARTER.
FOLLOWING
REMAINED IN OVERALL
FIRST, THE EXCHANGE VALUE OF THE HONG KONG DOLLAR STABLE AGAINST THE US DOLLAR, WHILE APPRECIATING SLIGHTLY TERMS, AS MEASURED BY THE EFFECTIVE EXCHANGE RATF INDEX.
EARLY PART
SECONDLY, CONTINUING THE TREND ESTABLISHED IN TIE OF THIS YEAR, LOCAL MONEY MARKET INTEREST RATES FDGE!! UP DURING THE THIRD QUARTER, LARGELY IN RESPONSE TO INCREASES IN INTEREST RATES ELSEWHERE.
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THIRDLY, THE HONG KONG DOLLAR MONEY SUPPLY. PARTICULARL, FOR ITS BROADER DEFINITIONS, RECORDED ONLY SMALL INCREASES DURING THIRD QUARTER. THE INCREASES WERE 1.5 PER CENT FOR HK$M1, 0.1 CENT FOR HK$M2, AND 0.3 PER CENT FOR HK$M3.
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FOURTHLY, THE GROWTH RATE OF LOANS AND ADVANCES ACCELERATED SLIGHTLY, FROM 6. PER CENT DURING THE SECOND QUARTER TO 7.3 PER DURING THE THIRD QUARTER.
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CANONICA,