SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 1989
PROVISIONAL TRADE FIGURES FOR JANUARY RELEASED
AND
THE PERFORMANCE OF THE VARIOUS TRADE AGGREGATES VARIED IN JANUARY 1989. WHILE THE YEAR-ON-YEAR GROWTH RATES OF RE-EXPORTS IMPORTS WERE STILL SUBSTANTIAL, A SLOW GROWTH WAS RECORDED DOMESTIC EXPORTS.
FOR
THESE POINTS ARE SHOWN IN THE PROVISIONAL TRADE FIGURES RELEASED TODAY (SATURDAY) BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT.
THE VALLE OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS IN JANUARY 1989 WAS $17,262 MILLION, $785 MILLION OR 4.8 PER CENT HIGHER THAN IN JANUARY 1988, WHILE THE VALUE OF RE-EXPORTS INCREASED BY 43 PER CENT OR $7,889 MILLION TO $26.253 MILLION.
THE VALUE OF TOTAL EXPORTS (DOMESTIC EXPORTS PLUS RE-EXPORTS), AT $43,515 MILLION IN JANUARY 1989, WAS THUS $8,674 MILLION OR 24.9 PER CENT HIGHER THAN IN JANUARY 1988.
THE VALUE OF IMPORTS GREW BY 30.1 PER CENT OR $9,984 MILLION OVER A YEAR EARLIER, TO $43, 134 MILLION IN JANUARY 1989.
A VISIBLE TRADE SURPLUS OF $381 MILLION WAS RECORDED IN JANUARY 1989, WHICH WAS EQUIVALENT TO 0.9 PER CENT OF THE VALUE OF IMPORTS.
THIS COMPARES WITH A SURPLUS OF $1,691 MILLION, EQUIVALENT TO 5.1 PER CENT OF THE VALUE OF IMPORTS, RECORDED IN JANUARY 1988.
TOTAL $218,449
FOR THE 12 MONTHS ENDING JANUARY 1989, THE VALUE OF EXPORTS WAS $501,744 MILLION, MADE UP OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS OF MILLION AND RE-EXPORTS OF $283,295 MILLION.
COMPARED WITH THE 12 MONTHS ENDING JANUARY 1988, IN VALUE TERMS TOTAL EXPORTS GREW BY 9114,926 MILLION OR 29.7 PER CENT, DOMESTIC EXPORTS BY $20,771 MILLION OR 10.5 PER CENT, AND RE-EXPORTS BY $94,155 MILLION OR 49.8 PER CENT.
OVER THE SAME PERIOD, THE VALUE OF IMPORTS GREW BY $121,200 MILLION OR 31.3 PER CENT, TO $508,782 MILLION.
A VISIBLE TRADE DEFICIT OF $7,038 MILLION, EQUIVALENT ΤΟ 1.4 PER CENT OF THE VALUE OF IMPORTS, WAS RECORDED DURING THE 12 MONTHS ENDING JANUARY 1989.
COMMENTING ON THESE FIGURES, A GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT SPOKESMAN SAID THAT MORE OBSERVATIONS WERE NEEDED TO SEE IF THE SLOW GROWTH RATE OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS WOULD BE SUSTAINED, AS THE FIGURES FOR THE EARLY MONTHS OF THE YEAR MIGHT BE AFFECTED BY THE TIMING OF THE LUNAR NEW YEAR HOLIDAYS.
THE SPOKESMAN