XN000022-1984-02-15 — Page 9

JEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY

+THE SECURITY OF CERTAIN BANKS COULD BE IMPROVED IF THEY WOULD ABANDON THEIR OPEN-PLAN DESIGNS AND THE HONG KONG ASSOCIATION OF BANKS HAS BEEN ADVISED TO THIS EFFECT.

+FOR REDUCING OPPORTUNITIES FOR ROBBERIES IN MULTI-STOREY BUILDINGS, THE COMMITTEE HAS DRAWN UP GUIDELINES ON THE DESIGN OF BUILDINGS, IS LOOKING AT HOW THE QUALITY OF WATCHMEN MIGHT BE IMPROVED AND IS EXAMINING WAYS OF ENCOURAGING BETTER MANAGEMENT.+

ON THE ROLE OF THE PUBLIC IN REDUCING ARMED ROBBERIES MR JEAFFRESON SAID MEASURES THAT COULD BE TAKEN FELL INTO TWO CATEGORIES.

+ONE IS TAKING SENSIBLE CRIME PREVENTION MEASURES AND THE OTHER IS GIVING FULL CO-OPERATION TO THE POLICE IN THE INVESTIGATION OF SUCH CRIMES, HE SAID.

NEW APPROACH TO GDP ESTIMATES USED

****

THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT HAD MADE MAJOR REVISIONS TO ITS ESTIMATES OF THE EXPENDITURE-BASED GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT AND STARTED A NEW PRODUCTION-BASED GDP SERIES, THE SECRETARY FOR ECONOMIC SERVICES, THE HON PIERS JACOBS, TOLD THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL TODAY.

REPLYING TO A QUESTION FROM THE HON WONG PO-YAN, MR JACOBS EXPLAINED THAT ANNUAL SURVEYS COVERING VARIOUS SECTORS OF THE ECONOMY HAD PROVIDED THE DEPARTMENT WITH THE INFORMATION WHICH MADE THE REVISIONS AND THE USE OF THE PRODUCTION APPROACH POSSIBLE.

+THE REVISIONS MADE TO THE EXPENDITURE-BASED GDP SERIES HAVE THE EFFECT OF RAISING THE LEVEL OF THE PREVIOUSLY PUBLISED CURRENT PRICE ESTIMATES BY ROUGHTLY 15-20 PER CENT IN EACH YEAR, HE SAID.

THIS HIGHER LEVEL WAS LARGELY DUE TO THE INCLUSION OF SURVEY-BASED ESTIMATES IN PLACE OF CRUDE ASSUMPTIONS FOR SEVERAL ITEMS ON WHICH INFORMATION WAS NOT AVAILABLE PREVIOUSLY, HE ADDED.

+THE REVISED SERIES REPRESENTS AN IMPROVEMENT ON THE PREVIOUS SERIES AND IS MORE SENSITIVE TO ECONOMIC CHANGES.

+AS RESULT, THE GROWTH RATES FOR SOME YEARS DIFFER QUITE MARKEDLY FROM EARLIER FIGURES.

+THE OVERALL PICTURE AS REGARDS LONGER-TERM GROWTH IS NOT, HOWEVER, SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT, HE POINTED OUT.

THE DEPARTMENT HAS A CONTINUING PROGRAMME TO IMPROVE AND EXPAND THE RANGE OF STATISTICS AVAILABLE FOR HONG KONG.

THE OBJECTIVE OF THE PROGRAMME, MR JACOBS SAID, WAS TO PROVIDE RELIABLE STATISTICAL INFORMATION ON THE BASIS OF WHICH ANALYSES OF VARIOUS FACETS OF HONG KONG'S ECONOMY AND SOCIETY MIGHT BE MADE.

+ LEVI