17
FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 1994
OF
IN THE FIRST SEVEN MONTHS OF 1994, A VISIBLE TRADE DEFICIT $51.2 BILLION, EQUIVALENT TO 7.5% OF THE VALUE OF IMPORTS, WAS RECORDED. THIS COMPARED WITH A DEFICIT OF $28.6 BILLION, EQUIVALENT TO 4.7% OF THE VALUE OF IMPORTS, RECORDED IN THE FIRST SEVEN MONTHS OF 1993.
COMMENTING ON THE LATEST TRADE FIGURES, A GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN SAID AFTER A SIGNIFICANT RISE IN JUNE, THE GROWTH RATE OF RE-EXPORTS MODERATED IN JULY. THIS WAS PARTLY ATTRIBUTABLE TO A HIGH BASE OF COMPARISON IN THE SAME MONTH LAST YEAR AND PARTLY DUE ΤΟ THE SAME REASON, DOMESTIC EXPORTS ALSO WEAKENED AFTER A REBOUND IN JUNE.
ON THE OTHER HAND, FOR THE FIRST SEVEN MONTHS OF 1994, RETAINED IMPORTS WERE 14% HIGHER THAN THAT OF A YEAR EARLIER.
"THIS
AND
SUGGESTS THAT DOMESTIC DEMAND SHOULD REMAIN ROBUST, DOMESTIC EXPORTS CAN BE EXPECTED TO SHOW SOME IMPROVEMENT IN THE COMING MONTHS, THE SPOKESMAN SAID.
A MORE DETAILED ANALYSIS OF HONG KONG'S EXTERNAL TRADE FOR JULY 1994, BY COMMODITY AND COUNTRY, WILL BE RELEASED IN MID-SEPTEMBER.
TABLE ON PROVISIONAL FIGURES ON EXTERNAL TRADE FOR JULY 1994
MERCHANDISE: DOMESTIC EXPORTS :
RE-EXPORTS
TOTAL EXPORTS IMPORTS
TRADE BALANCE
$20,438 MILLION $84,047 MILLION $104,484 MILLION
$109,329 MILLION -$4,845 MILLION
COMPARATIVE FIGURES
MAY 94 TO
MAY 93 TO
CHANGE
LATEST 3 MONTHS
JUL 94
HK$ MN
JUL 93 HK$ MN
HK$ MN
%
DOMESTIC EXPORTS
57,823
58,027
-205
-0.4
(% OF TOTAL EXPORTS)
(19.4%)
(21.6%)
RE-EXPORTS
240,243
210,479
+29,764
TOTAL EXPORTS
298,066
268,507
IMPORTS
324,876
278,709
TRADE BALANCE
-26,810
-10,202
+14.1 +29,559 +11.0 +46,167 +16.6 -16,608
JULY
SAME MONTH LAST YEAR
1994
HK$ MN
JULY 1993 HK$ MN
CHANGE
HK$ MN
DOMESTIC EXPORTS
20,438
21,369
-931
-4.4
(% OF TOTAL EXPORTS)
(19.6%)
(21.8%)
RE-EXPORTS
84,047
76,503
+7,544
+9.9
TOTAL EXPORTS
104,484
97,872
+6,612
+6.8
IMPORTS
109,329
98,690
+10,639
+10.8
TRADE BALANCE
-4,845
-818
-4,026
/LAST MONTH