THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 1994
TAKING RE-EXPORTS AND DOMESTIC EXPORTS TOGETHER, THE VALUE OF EXPORTS INCREASED BY $6.2 BILLION OR 7.7% TO $87.1 BILLION IN
MEANWHILE, THE VALUE OF IMPORTS INCREASED BY $9.4 BILLION 11% TO $96.2 BILLION.
TOTAL MARCH.
OR
THAT
EQUIVALENT
AS THE VALUE OF TOTAL EXPORTS IN MARCH WAS SMALLER THAN OF TOTAL IMPORTS, A VISIBLE TRADE DEFICIT OF $9.2 BILLION, ΤΟ 9.5% OF THE VALUE OF IMPORTS, WAS RECORDED. THIS COMPARED WITH A DEFICIT OF $6.0 BILLION, EQUIVALENT TO 7.0% OF THE VALUE OF RECORDED IN MARCH 1993.
IMPORTS,
VALUE
BY
IN THE FIRST QUARTER OF 1994, THE VALUE OF TOTAL EXPORTS GREW
THE 8.6% OVER THE SAME QUARTER LAST YEAR. AMONGST THIS, RE-EXPORTS ROSE BY 13%, WHILE THAT OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS FELL BY
OF
8.1%.
SUPPORTED LARGELY BY THE CONTINUED EXPANSION IN HONG KONG'S RE- EXPORT TRADE, THE VALUE OF IMPORTS SHOWED AN INCREASE OF 9.8%.
IN THE FIRST QUARTER OF 1994, A VISIBLE TRADE DEFICIT OF $13.9
EQUIVALENT
WAS BILLION,
TO 5.4% OF THE VALUE OF IMPORTS,
RECORDED. THIS COMPARED WITH A DEFICIT OF $10.1 BILLION, EQUIVALENT TO 4.4% THE VALUE OF IMPORTS, RECORDED IN THE FIRST QUARTER OF 1993.
THE
COMMENTING ON THE TRADE FIGURES, A GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN THE PERFORMANCE OF RE-EXPORTS WAS STILL ROBUST, ALTHOUGH RATE HAD MODERATED FROM LAST YEAR.
THE GROWTH IN RE-EXPORTS TO SOME MARKETS SUCH AS STATES AND GERMANY SEEMED TO HAVE BEEN LESS RAPID LATELY. THE PERFORMANCE OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS REMAINED SLUGGISH.
OF
SAID GROWTH
THE UNITED MEANWHILE,
INCREASE OF
FOR THE FIRST 4.3%
RETAINED IMPORTS, ON THE OTHER HAND, RECORDED AN 8.9% IN MARCH, AFTER A DROP OF 5.4% IN FEBRUARY. QUARTER AS A WHOLE, THE VALUE OF RETAINED IMPORTS WAS HIGHER BY OVER A YEAR EARLIER.
REFLECTING THE CONTINUOUS STRUCTURAL SHIFT OF HONG KONG'S EXPORTS FROM DOMESTIC EXPORTS TO RE-EXPORTS, THE SHARE OF RE-EXPORTS IN THE VALUE OF TOTAL EXPORTS ROSE FURTHER TO 82% IN THE FIRST QUARTER OF 1994, FROM 78% IN THE FIRST QUARTER OF 1993.
A MORE DETAILED ANALYSIS OF HONG KONG'S EXTERNAL TRADE FOR MARCH, BY COMMODITY AND COUNTRY, WILL BE RELEASED IN MID-MAY.
/PROVISIONAL FIGURES
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