XN000022-1986-03-27 — Page 42

THURSDAY, MARCH 27, 1986

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PROVISIONAL TRADE FIGURES FOR FEBRUARY

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THE VALUE OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS IN FEBRUARY 1986, AT $8 347 MILLION, WAS 11 PER CENT OR $1 033 MILLION LOWER THAN IN THE SAME MONTH LAST YEAR, WHILE THE VALUE OF RE-EXPORTS, AT $6 876 MILLION, WAS EIGHT PER CENT OR $561 MILLION LOWER, ACCORDING TO THE PROVISIONAL TRADE FIGURES PUBLISHED TODAY BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT.

TAKING DOMESTIC EXPORTS AND RE-EXPORTS TOGETHER, THE VALUE OF TOTAL EXPORTS, AT $15 223 MILLION, WAS NINE PER CENT OR $1 594 MILLION LOWER THAN A YEAR EARLIER. MEANWHILE, THE VALUE OF IMPORTS GREW BY 13 PER CENT OR $2 017 MILLION TO $16 983 MILLION.

IN CONSEQUENCE, A VISIBLE TRADE GAP (THAT IS, THE PROPORTION OF THE VALUE OF IMPORTS NOT COVERED BY THE VALUE OF TOTAL EXPORTS) OF 10.4 PER CENT WAS RECORDED IN FEBRUARY 1986, COMPARED WITH A VISIBLE TRADE SURPLUS IN FEBRUARY 1985 WHICH WAS EQUIVALENT TO 12.4 PER CENT OF THE VALUE OF IMPORTS.

PUTTING THE MONTH'S TRADE FIGURES INTO CONTEXT, A GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN POINTED OUT THAT THE VALUE OF TOTAL EXPORTS FOR THE 12 MONTHS ENDING FEBRUARY 1986 WAS $232 527 MILLION, MADE UP OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS OF $128 212 MILLION AND RE-EXPORTS OF $104 315 MILLION.

COMPARED WITH THE 12 MONTHS ENDING FEBRUARY 1985, THE VALUES OF TOTAL EXPORTS AND OF RE-EXPORTS GREW BY ONE PER CENT AND 17 PER CENT RESPECTIVELY, WHILE THE VALUE OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS FELL BY NINE PER CENT.

OVER THIS PERIOD, THE VALUE OF IMPORTS GREW BY THREE PER CENT TO $233 124 MILLION. THE VISIBLE TRADE ACCOUNT THUS RECORDED A DEFICIT OF $597 MILLION, OR A TRADE GAP OF 0.3 PER CENT. THIS WAS IN CONTRAST TO THE PREVIOUS 12-MONTH PERIOD WHEN THERE WAS A VISIBLE TRADE SURPLUS OF $2 892 MILLION, WHICH WAS EQUIVALENT TO 1.3 PER CENT OF THE VALUE OF IMPORTS.

COMMENTING ON THESE FIGURES, A GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT SPOKESMAN SAID THAT BECAUSE TRADE STATISTICS FOR THE BEGINNING MONTHS OF A YEAR ARE USUALLY DISTORTED BY SEASONAL FACTORS, IT IS MORE USEFUL TO CONSIDER FIGURES FOR DECEMBER, JANUARY AND FEBRUARY TOGETHER.

ON THIS BASIS, THE VALUES OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS AND OF RE-EXPORTS IN THE THREE MONTHS ENDING FEBRUARY 1986 WERE FOUR PER CENT AND TWO PER CENT RESPECTIVELY LOWER THAN IN THE SAME PERIOD LAST YEAR, WHILE THE VALUE OF IMPORTS GREW BY FIVE PER CENT.

THE SPOKESMAN