XN000022-1986-08-04 — Page 3

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MONDAY, AUGUST 4, 1986

PRICES OF IMPORTS, ON THE OTHER HAND, ROSE BY 3 PER CENT. AS A RESULT, THE TERMS OF TRADE INDEX (EXPRESSED AS A RATIO OF THE TOTAL EXPORT PRICE INDEX TO THE IMPORT PRICE INDEX) DROPPED BY 3 PER CENT.

COMPARING MAY 1986 WITH MAY 1985. THE VOLUME OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS AND RE-EXPORTS INCREASED BY 13 PER CENT AND 4 PER CENT RESPECTIVELY. HENCE, TOTAL EXPORTS GREW BY 9 PER CENT IN VOLUME.

IMPORT VOLUME ALSO INCREASED BY 10 PER CENT. ON THE SAME BASIS OF COMPARISON, THE PRICES OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS ROSE BY 1 PER CENT, RE-EXPORT PRICES INCREASED BY 2 PER CENT WHILE IMPORT PRICES ROSE BY 5 PER CENT.

PRICES ARE BASED ON UNIT VALUES WHICH DO NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT CHANGES IN THE COMPOSITION OR QUALITY OF GOODS TRADED, EXCEPT FOR SOME SELECTED COMMODITIES FOR WHICH SPECIFICATION PRICE INDEXES ARE COMPILED. THE VOLUME OF TRADE IS DERIVED FROM TRADE VALUES BY DISCOUNTING THE EFFECT OF PRICE CHANGES.

EXTENDING THE PERIOD OF COMPARISON TO THE 12 MONTHS ENDING MAY 1986 WITH THE 12 MONTHS ENDING MAY 1985, THE VOLUME OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS DECREASED BY 1 PER CENT, WHILE THAT OF RE-EXPORTS INCREASED BY 7 PER CENT, GIVING AN INCREASE OF 2 PER CENT IN THE VOLUME OF TOTAL EXPORTS.

THE VOLUME OF IMPORTS ROSE BY 4 PER CENT. OVER THE SAME PERIOD, PRICES OF RE-EXPORTS REMAINED UNCHANGED WHILE THOSE OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS AND IMPORTS BOTH DROPPED BY 1 PER CENT.

THE CHANGES IN THE VALUE, UNIT VALUE AND VOLUME OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS BY COMMODITY GROUP FOR MAY 1986 AS COMPARED WITH MAY 1985 ARE SHOWN IN TABLE 1.

AS CAN BE SEEN FROM TABLE 1, DOMESTIC EXPORT PRICES OF SOME COMMODITY GROUPS FELL IN MAY 1986 COMPARED WITH MAY 1985. THESE INCLUDED RADIOS OF ALL KINDS (-11 PER CENT); DOMESTIC ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES (-5 PER CENT); METAL ORES AND SCRAP (-4 PER CENT); TEXTILE FABRICS (-2 PER CENT) AND TEXTILE YARN AND THREAD (-1 PER CENT).

INCREASES IN DOMESTIC EXPORT PRICES WERE, HOWEVER, RECORDED FOR WATCHES AND CLOCKS (+7 PER CENT); TRAVEL GOODS, HANDBAGS AND SIMILAR ARTICLES (+7 PER CENT); TEXTILE MADE-UPS AND RELATED ARTICLES (+4 PER CENT); FOOTWEAR (+3 PER CENT); ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS (+1 PER CENT) AS WELL AS METAL MANUFACTURES (+1 PER CENT).

THE DOMESTIC