XN000022-1983-08-30 — Page 3

TUESDAY, AUGUST 30, 1983

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PROVISIONAL TRADE FIGURES FOR JULY 1983

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IN JULY 1983, DOMESTIC EXPORTS GREW BY 28 PER CENT OR $2 173 MILLION OVER THE SAME MONTH LAST YEAR, TO REACH $9 853 MILLION, ACCORDING TO PROVISIONAL TRADE FIGURES PUBLISHED TODAY (TUESDAY) BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT.

RE-EXPORTS, AT $4 718 MILLION, GREW BY 32 PER CENT OR $1 140

MILLION.

REACHED

TOTAL EXPORTS DOMESTIC EXPORTS PLUS RE-EXPORTS $14 571 MILLION IN JULY, REPRESENTING AN INCREASE OF 29 PER CENT OR $3 313 MILLION OVER THE SAME MONTH IN 1982.

WITH IMPORTS AT $15 184 MILLION, AN INCREASE OF 23 PER CENT OR $2 808 MILLION, THE VISIBLE TRADE DEFICIT FOR JULY THIS YEAR WAS $613 MILLION.

THE VISIBLE TRADE GAP THE PROPORTION OF THE VALUE OF IMPORTS NOT COVERED BY THAT OF TOTAL EXPORTS NARROWED SIGNIFICANTLY TO FOUR PER CENT FROM NINE PER CENT IN JULY LAST

YEAR.

PUTTING LAST MONTH'S TRADE FIGURES INTO CONTEXT, A GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN POINTED OUT THAT THE VALUE OF TOTAL EXPORTS IN THE FIRST SEVEN MONTHS OF 1983 WAS 16 PER CENT HIGHER THAN IN THE CORRESPONDING PERIOD A YEAR AGO.

THIS OVERALL INCREASE WAS MADE UP OF AN INCREASE OF 17 PER CENT FOR DOMESTIC EXPORTS AND AN INCREASE OF 15 PER CENT FOR RE-EXPORTS.

AS THE GROWTH RATE OF THE VALUE OF IMPORTS WAS 13 PER CENT, THE VISIBLE TRADE GAP IN THE FIRST SEVEN MONTHS OF THIS YEAR NARROWED TO 10 PER CENT, FROM 13 PER CENT RECORDED IN THE SAME PERIOD IN 1982,

COMMENTING ON THESE COMPARATIVE FIGURES, A GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN SAID THAT THE JULY TRADE FIGURES CONFIRM A RECOVERY IN THE EXPORT SECTOR, WHICH HAS GATHERED STRENGTH SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THIS YEAR.

EVEN AFTER DISCOUNTING THE EFFECTS OF PRICE INCREASES, DOMESTIC EXPORTS STILL SHOWED A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN REAL TERMS.

THE FOLLOWING TABLE GIVES THE PROVISIONAL MERCHANDISE TRADE FIGURES FOR JULY 1983.

MERCHANDISE:

$ 4 718 MILLION

DOMESTIC EXPORTS

:9 853 MILLION

RE-EXPORTS

TOTAL EXPORTS

IMPORTS

TRADE BALANCE

$14 571 MILLION

$15 184 MILLION

: 3 613 MILLION (IN DEFICIT)

/COMPARATIVE FIGURES