2
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 1990
MIDDLE BAST "OUR PROSPECTS HAVE BEEN FURTHER DAMPENED BY THE CRISIS. HIGHER OIL PRICES WILL MEAN, INEVITABLY, SOME INCREASE IN THE COST OF LIVING.
CHECK FOR THE
"AT THE SAME TIME, OUR MAJOR TRADING PARTNERS FACE A NEW
THIS WILL REDUCE THEIR DEMAND ΤΟ THEIR ECONOMIC EXPANSION. GOODS AND SERVICES WE EXPORT," HE SAID.
THE GOVERNOR POINTED OUT THAT, FORTUNATELY, HONG THE LESSONS OF THE OIL CRISES OF THE 1970S.
KONG LEARNT
TODAY, BY
"IN 1979, OIL WAS OUR PRINCIPAL SOURCE OF ENERGY. CONTRAST, WE GENERATE VIRTUALLY ALL OF OUR ELECTRICITY FROM COAL.
"BECAUSE OF THIS SUCCESSFUL ADJUSTMENT TO OUR ENERGY SOURCES, TO COPE WITH THE ARE BETTER PLACED THAN MANY OTHER ECONOMIES SLUGGISH WORLD MARKETS WE MUST EXPECT IN 1991," SIR DAVID SAID.
WB
THAT, PARTLY
NEVERTHELESS, THE GOVERNOR SAID WE MUST ACCEPT BECAUSE OF THE MIDDLE EAST CRISIS, WE FACED A HARSHER ENVIRONMENT IN WHICH IT WOULD BE MUCH TOUGHER GOING SHARE OF EXISTING MARKETS AND TO DEVELOP NEW BUSINESS.
ECONOMIC
TO DEFEND OUR
TO RETAIN THEIR COMPETITIVE EDGE, SIR DAVID SAID NEED TO MAKE BETTER USE OF EXISTING RESOURCES.
"THIS
MEANS HIGHER
STANDARDS
FIRMS WOULD
RESTRAINT
MANAGEMENT; OF SETTING PRICES AND PROFIT MARGINS; AND, ABOVE ALL, REALISM COMES TO WAGE DEMANDS.
IN WHEN IT
WE
"WAGES HAVE KEPT AHEAD OF INCREASES IN CONSUMER PRICES; BUT MUST BE ALERT TO THE DANGERS OF A WAGE AND PRICE SPIRAL.
NEITHER EMPLOYERS NOR WORKERS. "THIS WOULD BENEFIT NOBODY
PAY OURSELVES ARE AN OPEN ECONOMY. THE WORLD WILL NOT ALLOW US TO
THE GOVERNOR SAID. MORE THAN OUR PRODUCTS WILL EARN,
ΓΙ
―
WE
NO EASY CURE FOR INFLATION: GOVERNOR
* * *
9. 5 PER TODAY
THE GOVERNMENT ESTIMATES THAT INFLATION WILL AVERAGE CENT FOR 1990 AS A WHOLE, THE GOVERNOR, SIR DAVID WILSON, SAID (WEDNESDAY).
4
AND THE GOVERNOR POINTED OUT THAT WITH INFLATION OF THIS LEVEL
MIDDLE EAST CRISIS, THE PROSPECT OF IT RISING AS A RESULT OF THE RATHER THAN FALLING AS WE HAD EXPECTED, WE CLEARLY COULD NOT AFFORD TO BE COMPLACENT.
/"NOR CAN