XN000022-1984-10-25 — Page 28

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25, 1984

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SEPTEMBER PROVISIONAL TRADE FIGURES RELEASED

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THE VALUE OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS IN SEPTEMBER 1984 ROSE BY 28 PER CENT OR $2 749 MILLION OVER THE SAME MONTH LAST YEAR TO REACH $12 414 MILLION, ACCORDING TO THE PROVISIONAL TRADE FIGURES PUBLISHED TODAY (THURSDAY) BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS.

DEPARTMENT.

THE VALUE OF RE-EXPORTS ALSO INCREASED, BY 41 PER CENT OR $2 074 MILLION, TO $7 142 MILLION.

THE VALUE OF TOTAL EXPORTS - DOMESTIC EXPORTS PLUS RE- EXPORTS — AT $19 556 MILLION, WAS 33 PER CENT OR $4 823 MILLION HIGHER THAN A YEAR AGO.

THE VALUE OF IMPORTS WAS $18 587 MILLION IN SEPTEMBER 1984, REPRESENTING AN INCREASE OF 20 PER CENT OR $3 093 MILLION OVER THE SAME MONTH LAST YEAR.

AS THE VALUE OF TOTAL EXPORTS WAS GREATER THAN THAT OF IMPORTS, THE VISIBLE TRADE ACCOUNT RECORDED A SURPLUS OF $969 MILLION.

PUTTING THE MONTH'S TRADE FIGURES INTO CONTEXT, A GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT SPOKESMAN POINTED OUT THAT THE VALUE OF TOTAL EXPORTS FOR THE FIRST NINE MONTHS OF 1984 WAS $160 470 MILLION, MADE UP OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS OF $101 888 MILLION AND RE-EXPORTS OF $58 582 MILLION.

COMPARED WITH THE FIRST NINE MONTHS OF 1983, THE VALUE OF TOTAL EXPORTS HAD INCREASED BY $49 219 MILLION OR 44 PER CENT, DOMESTI EXPORTS BY $29 253 MILLION OR 40 PER CENT, AND RE-EXPORTS BY $19 966 MILLION OR 52 PER CENT. THE VALUE OF IMPORTS HAD INCREASED BY $41 202 MILLION OR 34 PER CENT, TO $163 072 MILLION.

AS THE GROWTH RATE OF THE VALUE OF TOTAL EXPORTS WAS MUCH FASTER THAN THAT OF IMHORTS. THE VISIBLE TRADE GAP HAD NARROWEL TO 2 PER CENT IN THE FIRST NINE MONTHS OF 1984, FROM 9 PER CENT IN THE SAME PERIOD LAST YEAR.

COMMENTING ON THESE COMPARATIVE FIGURES, THE SPOKESMAN SAID THAT SEPTEMBER 1984 WAS THE THIRD CONSECUTIVE MONTH IN WHICH A VISIBLE TRADE SURPLUS WAS RECORDED AND THAT THE THIRD QUARTER SURPLUS WAS THE FIRST QUARTERLY SURPLUS IN SEVEN YEARS.

HOWEVER, HE NOTED THAT THE GROWTH RATES OF THE VALUE OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS, RE-EXPORTS AND IMPORTS HAD ALL SLOWED DOWN IN RECENT MONTHS, DUE PRIMARILY TO THE SUBSTANTIAL RECOVERY IN THE SECOND HALF OF 1983.

THERE ARE INDICATIONS THAT THIS TREND WILL CONTINUE FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR.

THE FOLLOWING TABLE PRESENTS THE PROVISIONAL MERCHANDISE TRADE FIGURES FOR SEPTEMBER 1984:-

TRADE FIGURES