IN
2
FRIDAY, AUGUST 27, 1993
THESE DEVELOPMENTS ARE DESCRIBED IN THE HALF-YEARLY REPORT 1993 RELEASED TODAY (FRIDAY).
ECONOMIC
REFLECTING THESE DEVELOPMENTS, THE GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT (GDP) GREW BY AN ESTIMATED 5.3% IN REAL TERMS IN THE FIRST QUARTER OF OVER A YEAR EARLIER, FOLLOWING A SIMILAR INCREASE IN 1992.
1993
MAINLY AFFECTED BY A SLOWER GROWTH IN EXPORTS IN THE SECOND QUARTER THAN IN THE FIRST QUARTER, THE GDP GROWTH RATE IN THE SECOND QUARTER SHOULD HAVE BEEN SLIGHTLY LOWER, PROBABLY IN THE REGION OF 5%.
CONSUMER PRICE INFLATION MODERATED FURTHER DURING THE FIRST HALF OF 1993, WHILE THE LABOUR MARKET REMAINED BROADLY STABLE WITH THE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE STAYING LOW.
THE GOVERNMENT ECONOMIST, MR K Y TANG, SAID FOLLOWING AN ON- GOING PRACTICE, THE ECONOMIC FORECASTS FOR THE YEAR HAD BEEN REVIEWED AND UPDATED IN PARALLEL WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE ECONOMIC
ADJUSTMENTS ARE MADE TO SOME OF THE COMPONENTS, FORECAST GROWTH RATE IN REAL TERMS OF THE GDP FOR 1993 IS
5.5%.
AT
REPORT.
THE
BUT MAINTAINED
ON THE LEVEL OF INFLATION FOR 1993, THE FORECAST RATE OF INCREASE IN THE CONSUMER PRICE INDEX (A) IS REVISED DOWNWARDS FROM 9.5% TO 9% IN THE LIGHT OF A BETTER THAN EXPECTED OUTTURN SO FAR, BUT THE FORECAST RATE OF INCREASE IN THE GDP DEFLATOR REMAINS UNCHANGED AT 9.5%.
IN THE EXTERNAL SECTOR, TOTAL EXPORTS ROSE BY ABOUT 16% IN REAL TERMS IN THE FIRST HALF OF 1993 OVER A YEAR EARLIER.
RE-EXPORTS CONTINUED ΤΟ RISE RAPIDLY AND REMAINED THE KEY SOURCE OF THE OVERALL EXPORT GROWTH.
GROWTH
THERE WAS, HOWEVER, A DECELERATION IN THE YEAR-ON-YEAR RATE OF RE-EXPORTS, FROM 26% IN REAL TERMS IN THE FIRST QUARTER ΤΟ ABOUT 19% IN THE SECOND QUARTER.
FIRST
RE-EXPORTS TO MOST OF THE MAJOR MARKETS REMAINED ROBUST IN THE HALF OF THIS YEAR. CHINA CONTINUED TO FEATURE PROMINENTLY IN THE TWO-WAY RE-EXPORT FLOWS.
DOMESTIC EXPORTS REGISTERED ZERO GROWTH IN THE FIRST QUARTER AND FELL BY ABOUT 7% IN REAL TERMS IN THE SECOND QUARTER OVER A YEAR EARLIER, GIVING A DECLINE OF ABOUT 4% IN REAL TERMS FOR THE FIRST HALF OF 1993 AS A WHOLE.
IN THE
THIS WAS PARTLY DUE TO THE ON-GOING STRUCTURAL SHIFT COMPOSITION OF HONG KONG'S EXPORTS FROM DOMESTIC EXPORTS ΤΟ RE- EXPORTS.
ALSO RELEVANT, HOWEVER, WAS THE REDUCED PRICE COMPETITIVENESS OF HONG KONG'S PRODUCTS OVERSEAS DUE TO THE STRENGTHENING OF THE KONG DOLLAR ALONG WITH THE U.S. DOLLAR IN THE LATTER PART OF AND THE EARLY PART OF 1993.
HONG
1992
/NEVERTHELESS, DOMESTIC