XN000022-1980-08-29 — Page 4

FRIDAY, AUGUST 29, 1980

3

COMMENTING ON THE JULY FIGURES, A GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN POINTED OUT THAT, DESPITE A +747 JUMBO+ WHICH IS WORTH ABOUT $269 MILLION BEING IMPORTED IN THE MONTH, THE GROWTH RATE OF THE VALUE OF TOTAL EXPORTS WAS STILL FASTER THAN THAT OF IMPORTS. THE GROWTH RATE OF IMPORTS HAS SLOWED DOWN TO THE EXTENT THAT, BUT FOR THE IMPORTATION OF THE +747 JUMBO+, THE VISIBLE TRADE DEFICIT WOULD HAVE BEEN ONLY ABOUT $400 MILLION.

COMPARING THE FIGURES FOR THE FIRST SEVEN MONTHS OF THIS YEAR WITH THOSE FOR THE FIRST SEVEN MONTHS OF LAST YEAR, DOMESTIC EXPORTS HAVE INCREASED IN VALUE BY 30 PER CENT, RE-EXPORTS BY 44 PER CENT, TOTAL EXPORTS BY 34 PER CENT AND IMPORTS BY 33 PER CENT.

THE SPOKESMAN ADDED THAT STATISTICS ON THE COMPOSITION OF THE TRADE FOR JULY WERE NOT YET AVAILABLE, BUT THE DETAILED FIGURES UP TO JUNE SUGGESTED THAT THE GROWTH RATE OF IMPORTS OF RAW MATERIAL AND SEMI-MANUFACTURES, THOUGH STILL RAPID FOR THE FIRST HALF YEAR AS A WHOLE, HAD SLOWED DOWN IN JUNE WHILE THAT OF CONSUMER GOODS HAD REMAINED FAIRLY RAPID THROUGHOUT. THESE DEVELOPMENTS WERE PRESUMABLY A REFLECTION OF THE UNCERTAINTY ABOUT EXPORT PROSPECTS FOR THE END OF THIS YEAR AND OF THE PICK UP IN THE GROWTH RATE OF DOMESTIC DEMAND.

THE SPOKESMAN FURTHER POINTED OUT THAT, AS ENVISAGED BY THE FINANCIAL SECRETARY IN HIS 1980 BUDGET SPEECH, THE GROWTH RATE OF THE VALUE OF IMPORTS IN THE FIRST SEVEN MONTHS OF THIS YEAR HAD ALMOST CAUGHT UP WITH THAT OF TOTAL EXPORTS. AS A CONSEQUENCE, THE VISIBLE TRADE +GAP+, THAT IS THE PROPORTION OF THE VALUE OF IMPORTS WHICH IS NOT COVERED BY THE VALUE OF TOTAL EXPORTS, WAS 13.6 PER CENT IN THE FIRST SEVEN MONTHS OF 1980, COMPARED WITH 11.5 PER CENT FOR 1979. IT WAS HOWEVER STILL BELOW THE 14.4 PER CENT RECORDED IN THE FIRST SEVEN MONTHS OF 1979.

THE FOLLOWING ARE COMPARATIVE MERCHANDISE TRADE FIGURES:

·

LATEST 3 MONTHS

MAY - JULY 1980

MAY

JULY

1979

INCREASE OR

DECREASE

S M.

5 M.

$ M.

*

DOMESTIC EXPORTS

18 117

14 307

+ 3 810

+ 26.6

RE-EXPORTS

7 324

5 054

+ 2 270

+ 44.9

TOTAL EXPORTS

25 441

19 360

+ 6 080

+ 31.4

IMPORTS

27 440

21 376

• 6 064

+ 29.4

TRADE BALANCE

- 1 999

2 016

17

/SAME MONTH