XN000022-1973-10-17 — Page 15

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Wednesday, October 17, 1973

"We regard this issue as an open one on which adjustments could

and should be sought in the course of annual reviews," he stressed.

Looking back over the year, the Governor noted that it had been

one of exceptional difficulty for exporters, businessmen, bankers and

developers who had been affected in varying degrees by the rise and fall of

the stock market, the general world inflationary spiral, the international

currency instability and the world-wide shortage of raw materials, among

others.

"Against this background of so many difficulties it is encouraging

that the value of our domestic exports alone in the first eight months of

this year was 21 per cent up in value on the same eight months of 1972, end

let us remember this is an export-led economy," Sir Murray said.

Even allowing for inflation of values, this was a significant result,

and the fact that expansion should still have continued in the face of so many

problems and uncertainties was in itself "remarkable".

"This gives solid ground for hope that the ingenuity of our exporters

and their labour force, the hard-headedness of our official negotiators, and

the sheer demand for Hong Kong's goods can continue to combine to ensure the

expansion of our economy."

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Referring to the rise in prices, the Governor said: "The plain fact

of the matter is that the world is going through a particularly inflationary

phase, and Hong Kong cannot insulate itself from it.'

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This world inflationary trend, he added, had coincided with a

significant rise in the prices being charged for imported foodstuffs as a

result of a combination of factors, including world grain shortages, i the

exceptional climatic conditions of this summer in Hong Kong and South China, and

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