FRIDAY, MAY 28, 1993
AMONG THE VARIOUS END-USE CATEGORIES, RETAINED IMPORTS OF FUELS RECORDED THE FASTEST GROWTH, FOLLOWED BY THOSE OF RAW MATERIALS AND SEMI-MANUFACTURES, CAPITAL GOODS, FOODSTUFFS, AND CONSUMER GOODS.
A VISIBLE TRADE DEFICIT OF $10.1 BILLION, EQUIVALENT TO 4% OF THE VALUE OF IMPORTS, WAS RECORDED IN THE FIRST QUARTER OF THIS
YEAR.
THIS WAS BROADLY COMPARABLE TO THE DEFICIT OF $9.6 BILLION, EQUIVALENT TO 5% OF THE VALUE OF IMPORTS, RECORDED IN THE SAME QUARTER LAST YEAR.
ACCORDING TO THE PRELIMINARY ESTIMATE OF QUARTERLY GDP, PRIVATE CONSUMPTION EXPENDITURE, AS THE LARGEST COMPONENT OF DOMESTIC DEMAND, RECORDED A CONSIDERABLE GROWTH OF 7% IN REAL TERMS IN THE QUARTER OF 1992 OVER A YEAR EARLIER, FOLLOWING A 9% INCREASE THIRD QUARTER.
FOURTH
IN THE
EXPENDITURE ON DURABLE AND NON-DURABLE GOODS BOTH SHOWED A
SIGNIFICANT INCREASE.
AS REGARDS GOVERNMENT CONSUMPTION EXPENDITURE, THE GROWTH RATE ON A NATIONAL ACCOUNTS BASIS WAS 8% IN REAL TERMS IN THE FOURTH QUARTER OF 1992 OVER A YEAR EARLIER, FOLLOWING A 10% INCREASE IN THE THIRD QUARTER.
LOCAL INVESTMENT, MEASURED IN TERMS OF GROSS DOMESTIC FIXED CAPITAL FORMATION, ROSE BY 11% IN REAL TERMS IN THE FOURTH QUARTER OF 1992 OVER A YEAR EARLIER, AFTER AN INCREASE OF 12% IN THE THIRD QUARTER.
OF THE MAIN COMPONENTS,
EXPENDITURE ON MACHINERY AND EQUIPMENT CONTINUED ΤΟ SURGE STONGLY, BY 27% IN REAL TERMS IN THE FOURTH QUARTER, HAVING RISEN BY 28% IN THE THIRD QUARTER.
EXPENDITURE ON BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION ALSO PICKED UP TO SHOW AN INCREASE OF 9% TN REAL TERMS IN THE FOURTH QUARTER, FOLLOWING A DECREASE OF
2% IN THE THIRD QUARTER, AS WORK ON A NUMBER OF PUBLIC SECTOR CIVIL ENGINEERING PROJECTS GATHERED MOMENTUM TOWARDS THE END OF THE YEAR.
CONSUMER SPENDING SHOULD HAVE REGISTERED A FURTHER NOTABLE INCREASE IN THE FIRST QUARTER OF 1993, AS EVIDENCED BY THE SUSTAINED GROWTH IN RETAINED IMPORTS OF CONSUMER GOODS IN THE QUARTER, BY ABOUT 7% IN
REAL TERMS OVER A YEAR EARLIER.
CONCURRENTLY, THE VOLUME OF RETAIL SALES GREW BY 6% IN THE FIRST TWO MONTHS OF 1993 OVER A YEAR EARLIER.
ON INVESTMENT SPENDING, RETAINED IMPORTS OF CAPITAL GOODS STILL SHOWED A NOTABLE INCREASE OF ABOUT 8% IN REAL TERMS IN THE FIRST QUARTER OVER A YEAR EARLIER.
WITHIN THIS CATEGORY, RETAINED IMPORTS OF INDUSTRIAL
MACHINERY
FOR MANUFACTURING USE CONTINUED TO GROW SIGNIFICANTLY.
IN THE LABOUR MARKET, CONDITIONS REMAINED GENERALLY STABLE. THE SEASONALLY ADJUSTED UNEMPLOYMENT RATE IN THE FIRST QUARTER OF 1993 STOOD AT 2.3%.
/ALTHOUGH THIS