t
On the labour front, I think that the labour market is now a lot tighter, which is having some effect on labour costs. We cannot use, as you know because of the wholly necessary link to the US dollar, monetary policy in a conventional way to cope with inflation. However, inflation has come down from 13.9 per cent at its peak just before I go to Hong Kong to about 8.3 per cent in the latest figures, and we will go on bearing down on it, trying to reduce those costs.
We have in government to do what we can through, for example, making the costs of government as lean and competitive as possible. We also have to ensure that we give business support in other areas where we can. I am sorry that I cannot give you a promise that rentals or labour market prices will fall immediately or tomorrow but we are battling away as hard as we can in areas where we can make a bit of a difference.
End/Monday, October 23, 1995