2 -
Re-exports continued to show a strong growth in the third quarter, rising by 14.8% in real terms over a year earlier. On the other hand, the growth rate of domestic exports moderated to only 1.3% in real terms over the same period.
Exports of services continued to record a rapid increase, by 11.4% in real terms over a year earlier. This was supported by strong growth in both tourism and trade- related services.
Imports of goods and services increased by 13.5% and 5.3% respectively in real terms in the third quarter over a year earlier.
On investment spending, gross domestic fixed capital formation picked up further to a 11.2% increase in real terms in the third quarter. Within this component, construction output in the public sector recorded an increase of 12.3% following a sharp rise of 58.8% in the second quarter. However, private sector building output, as the largest component of overall construction output, remained weak.
As a result, overall expenditure on construction registered a decrease of 2.2% in real terms in the third quarter over a year earlier. On the other hand, expenditure on machinery and equipment surged further in the third quarter, rising by 35.4% in real terms over a year earlier.
The accumulation in stocks moderated during the third quarter of 1995, following a sharp rise in the second quarter.
Consumer spending remained slack. Private consumption expenditure grew by only 1.1% in real terms in the third quarter over a year earlier. The slow-down was mainly concentrated in the spending on motor vehicles and other durable goods, while spending on consumer non-durables and on services recorded increases of 2.7% and 3.7% respectively in real terms.
Government consumption expenditure increased by 5.9% in real terms in the third quarter over a year earlier, as compared to an increase of only 2.6% in the second quarter.
The implicit price deflator of the GDP rose by 4.1% in the third quarter of 1995 over a year earlier. Excluding the effect due to terms of trade, the domestic demand deflator increased by 6.1% over the same period. This rate of change was relatively small when compared with those recorded for the earlier quarters, mainly due to the moderation in consumer prices, property prices, and prices for imports of machinery and equipment.