XN000022-1972-11-15 — Page 19

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Wednesday, November 15, 1972

Furthermore, the Gross Domestic Product estimates have only been

calculated on the so-called expenditure side and could therefore be subject

to a wide margin of error, he added.

Mr. Haddon-Cave said efforts are now being made to prepare an

alternative estimate based on incomes, that is wages, salaries, profits and

so on, with the help of an experienced national income statistician from the

United Kingdom who will be visiting Hong Kong later this month.

"This will enable a check to be made on the original expenditure

estimates and will mean, more likely than not, that adjustments will have to

be made," he said.

He said in due course when progress has been made with the forthcoming

census of production, a third estimate will be attempted from the production

side.

When more work has been done on refining the figures, he said it is

the Government's intention to publish the results and this, he hoped, can be

done in the course of the next 12 months.

"Meanwhile, I shall be using the present estimates in framing the

1973-74 budget," he said.

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