XN000022-1985-08-28 — Page 2

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 28, 1985

BASIC ECONOMY DOING VERY WELL SIR EDWARD

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THE GOVERNOR, SIR EDWARD YOUDE, SAID TODAY (WEDNESDAY) THE BASIC ECONOMY OF HONG KONG WAS DOING VERY WELL AND MANY COUNTRIES WOULD BE HAPPY TO HAVE THE ECONOMIC GROWTH THAT HONG KONG COULD EXPECT.

HE WAS SPEAKING TO REPORTERS AFTER VISITING THE SOCIAL WELFARE DEPARTMENT'S CHUK YUEN CHILDREN'S CENTRE.

ASKED IF HE HAD CONFIDENCE IN THE ECONOMY FOR THE REST OF THIS YEAR, HE SAID: +I THINK EVERYBODY HAS NOTICED THAT THE RATE OF INCREASE OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS HAS NOT BEEN AS HIGH, BUT I DIDN'T FIND THAT SURPRISING.

+LAST YEAR WAS A VERY REMARKABLE YEAR. I CERTAINLY BELIEVE, AND I THINK THIS WILL BE SHOWN, THAT THE BASIC ECONOMY IS DOING VERY WELL AND INDEED THERE ARE MANY PARTS OF THE WORLD WHICH WOULD BE VERY HAPPY TO HAVE THE KIND OF ECONOMIC GROWTH THAT HONG KONG CAN STILL EXPECT.

ASKED WHETHER HONG KONG WAS HEADING TOWARDS A BALANCED BUDGET, BY THE END OF THIS FINANCIAL YEAR, THE GOVERNOR SAID:

WE ARE CERTAINLY HEADING IN THE DIRECTION OF A BALANCED BUDGET.

+EXACTLY WHEN IT WOULD BE ACHIEVED, I WOULDN'T LIKE TO SUGGEST. I AM SURE THE FINANCIAL SECRETARY WILL BE A BETTER SOURCE ON THAT THAN I AM.

+BUT I THINK THERE HAS BEEN A VERY ENCOURAGING MOVEMENT OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS FROM A LARGE DEFICIT TOWARDS A BALANCE.

ASKED WHETHER HONG KONG WOULD HAVE A LOCAL CHINESE GOVERNOR BEFORE 1997, SIR EDWARD SAID: I DON'T KNOW THE ANSWER TO THAT IN THE SENSE THAT THE ONE THING THAT ONE GOVERNOR DOES IS NEVER TRY TO SELECT HIS SUCCESSOR.+

ASKED WHEN HE WAS LIKELY TO LEAVE HONG KONG, HE SAID HE HAD NO PLANS TO LEAVE.

+1 HAVE BEEN HERE NOW THREE YEARS OR MORE AND I EXPECT TO BE HERE FOR SOME YEARS YET. AS FAR AS I KNOW, NOBODY IS THINKING ABOUT MY DEPARTURE.

ASKED WHETHER THE GOVERNMENT MIGHT HAVE UNDER-ESTIMATED THE MATURITY OF THE ELECTORATE BECAUSE IT WAS ONLY HAVING INDIRECT ELECTIONS AT THIS STAGE, SIR EDWARD SAID IT WAS NOT A QUESTION OF THE MATURITY OF THE ELECTORATE,

/+I THINK