XN000022-1973-11-29 — Page 30

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Thursday, November 29, 1973

Dealing with the retail price rises generally, the Financial

Secretary said that long before they became a matter of public concern

the Economic Branch of the Secretariat and the Consumer Price Index

and Trade Research Sections of the Census and Statistics Department

were monitoring the situation.

The data which has now been assembled is not only wide-ranging.

but also now extends back over several years.

T

Mr. Haddon-Cave said: "Our aim is to ensure that we are

constantly aware of what is happening in the prices field, why it is

happening and what effect it is having on the community."

The Economic Branch and the Census and Statistics Department

make use of a whole range of information and expert advice including

the Agriculture and Fisheries Department, the Commerce and Industry

Department and the Urban Services Department.

He said Legislative Council members who had suggested the

establishment of an economic advisory committee or a price stabilisation

board were not directly associated with this monitoring machinery.

However, he added "I think it would be very useful if they were

because they could then satisfy themselves that government officers

are sensitive to what is happening around them, and I think there would

be merit in the appropriate UMELCO group periodically meeting.them to be

briefed, and we would welcome their suggestions as to useful lines of

enquiry."

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