XN000022-1983-12-29 — Page 2

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 29, 1983

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NOVEMBER EXPORTS SHOW BIG RISE

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DOMESTIC EXPORTS, AT $10 393 MILLION IN NOVEMBER 1983, WERE 45 PER CENT OR $3 245 MILLION HIGHER THAN IN THE SAME MONTH A YEAR AGO, ACCORDING TO THE PROVISIONAL TRADE FIGURES PUBLISHED TODAY BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT.

RE-EXPORTS ALSO INCREASED SUBSTANTIALLY, BY 46 PER CENT OR

$1 809 MILLION, TO REACH $5 749 MILLION,

TAKING DOMESTIC EXPORTS AND RE-EXPORTS TOGETHER, TOTAL EXPORTS ROSE BY 46 PER CENT OR $5 054 MILLION TO $16′ 142 MILLION IN NOVEMBER.

IMPORTS REACHED $17 036 MILLION, AN INCREASE OF 40 PER CENT OR $4 837 MILLION. THE VISIBLE TRADE DEFICIT FOR NOVEMBER THIS YEAR WAS $894 MILLION, COMPARED WITH $1 111 MILLION IN NOVEMBER LAST YEAR AND $1 425 MILLION IN OCTOBER THIS YEAR.

AS A RESULT, THE VISIBLE TRADE GAP, THAT IS THE PROPORTION OF THE VALUE OF IMPORTS NOT COVERED BY THAT OF TOTAL EXPORTS, NARROWED CONSIDERABLY TO FIVE PER CENT, FROM NINE PER CENT IN NOVEMBER LAST YEAR.

PUTTING THE MONTH'S TRADE FIGURES INTO CONTEXT, A GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN POINTED OUT THAT THE VALUE OF TOTAL EXPORTS IN THE FIRST ELEVEN MONTHS OF 1983 WAS 25 PER CENT HIGHER THAN IN THE CORRESPONDING PERIOD LAST YEAR. THIS OVERALL INCREASE WAS MADE UP OF AN INCREASE OF 25 PER CENT FOR DOMESTIC EXPORTS AND AN INCREASE OF 26 PER CENT FOR RE-EXPORTS.

AS THE GROWTH RATE OF THE VALUE OF IMPORTS WAS LOWER, AT 21 PER CENT, THE VISIBLE TRADE GAP IN THE FIRST ELEVEN MONTHS OF THIS YEAR, AT EIGHT PER CENT, WAS NARROWER THAN THAT IN THE SAME PERIOD OF 1982, AT 11 PER CENT.

COMMENTING ON THESE COMPARATIVE FIGURES, A GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN NOTED THAT DOMESTIC EXPORTS EXCEEDED THE $10 000 MILLION MARK FOR THE SECOND MONTH RUNNING. HE ALSO SAID THAT THE SUBSTANTIAL INCREASE IN IMPORTS IN NOVEMBER, WHICH WAS PROBABLY LARGELY ATTRIBUTABLE TO AN INCREASE IN IMPORTS OF RAW MATERIALS AND SEMI-MANUFACTURES, IN ENCOURAGING AND INDICATES CONTINUED GOOD SHORT-TERM PROSPECTS FOR DOMESTIC EXPORTS.

FOLLOWING ARE THE PROVISIONAL MERCHANDISE TRADE FIGURES FOR NOVEMBER 1983:

MERCHANDISE

DOMESTIC EXPORTS

RE-EXPORTS

: $10 393 MILLION

$ 5 749 MILLION

$16 142 MILLION

TOTAL EXPORTS

IMPORTS

$17 036 MILLION

TRADE BALANCE

$

894 MILLION (IN DEFICIT)

/COMPARATIVE FIGURES