XN000022-1986-02-14 — Page 4

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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 1986

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INSUFFICIENT BUSINESS, PRICE COMPETITION AND HIGH STAFF TURNOVER REMAINED THE MAIN PROBLEMS FACED BY RESTAURANTS DURING BOTH QUARTERS.

PRICE COMPETITION AND HIGH STAFF COSTS CONTINUED TO BE THE MAIN PROBLEMS FOR HOTELS DURING THE FOURTH AND FIRST QUARTERS.

AS FOR THE OTHER SERVICES' SECTOR, FIRMS ACROSS DIFFERENT BUSINESSES CONSIDERED PRICE COMPETITION AS A PREDOMINANT PROBLEM DURING THE FOURTH AND FIRST QUARTERS. IN ADDITION, THE BANKS ALSO ENCOUNTERED THE PROBLEM OF INSUFFICIENT BUSINESS.

ACCORDING TO THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT, THE SURVEY RESULTS, OBTAINED WITH A MINIMUM TIME LAG, WERE BASICALLY INTENDED TO PROVIDE ONE SOURCE OF REFERENCE FOR MAKING A QUICK ASSESSMENT OF THE CURRENT ECONOMIC SITUATION OF HONG KONG.

IN THE SURVEY, PARTICIPATING FIRMS WERE ASKED TO INDICATE WHETHER, IN THEIR OPINION, THE GENERAL BUSINESS SITUATION AND LEVEL OF CAPACITY UTILISATION HAD IMPROVED', 'REMAINED THE SAME' OR DETERIORATED IN THE QUARTER JUST ENDED AS COMPARED WITH THE PRECEDING QUARTER,

FOR THE FORTHCOMING QUARTER, THEY WERE ALSO ASKED TO INDICATE WHETHER THE SITUATION WILL IMPROVE', 'REMAIN THE SAME' OR 'DETERIORATE'.

THE BALANCE OF OPINIONS OF RESPONDENTS WERE TABULATED AND ANALYSED. THE SURVEY REPORT ALSO CONTAINS A SECTION ON BUSINESS PROBLEMS EXPERIENCED AND EXPECTED BY FIRMS IN DIFFERENT ECONOMIC SECTORS AND A BREAKDOWN OF VIEWS OF FIRMS BY SIZE GROUPS.

A SPOKESMAN FOR THE DEPARTMENT NOTED THAT IN A SURVEY OF THIS NATURE, THE RESULTS SHOULD BE INTERPRETED WITH CARE AS IT WAS DIFFICULT TO ESTABLISH PRECISELY THE EXTENT TO WHICH RESPONDENTS' PERCEPTION OF THE PAST AND THE FUTURE ACCORDS WITH THE UNDERLYING TRENDS.

COPIES OF THE REPORT, CONTAINING AN ANALYSIS OF THE SURVEY FINDINGS AND STATISTICAL TABLES, HAVE BEEN DISTRIBUTED TO FIRMS TAKING PART IN THE SURVEY AND TO OTHER BUSINESS ORGANISATIONS. MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC MAY OBTAIN COPIES FROM THE GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS SALES CENTRE, GENERAL POST OFFICE BUILDING, AT $3 PER COPY.

FURTHER DETAILS ON THE QUARTERLY BUSINESS SURVEY MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE NATIONAL INCOME BRANCH OF THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT AT 5-423401.

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