XN000022-1987-04-27 — Page 10

MONDAY, APRIL 27, 1987

TAKING DOMESTIC EXPORTS AND RE-EXPORTS TOGETHER, THE VALUE OF TOTAL EXPORTS, AT $28 347 MILLION, WAS 50.5 PER CENT OR $9 512 MILLION HIGHER THAN IN MARCH 1986. THE VALUE OF IMPORTS GREW BY 54.6 PER CENT OR $10 848 MILLION OVER MARCH 1986 TO $30 731 MILLION.

AS THE GROWTH IN THE VALUE OF IMPORTS WAS FASTER THAN THAT OF TOTAL EXPORTS, THE VISIBLE TRADE GAP (THAT IS, THE PROPORTION OF THE VALUE OF IMPORTS NOT COVERED BY THE VALUE OF TOTAL EXPORTS) IN MARCH 1987 WIDENED TO 7.8 PER CENT, COMPARED WITH A GAP OF 5.3 PER CENT IN MARCH 1986.

IN ABSOLUTE VALUE TERMS, THE VISIBLE TRADE DEFICIT RECORDED IN MARCH 1987, AT $2 384 MILLION, WAS MORE THAN DOUBLE THAT RECORDED IN MARCH 1986.

PUTTING THE MONTH'S TRADE FIGURES INTO CONTEXT, THE VALUE OF TOTAL EXPORTS FOR THE FIRST QUARTER OF 1987 WAS $75 012 MILLION, MADE UP OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS OF $38 528 MILLION AND RE-EXPORTS OF $36 484 MILLION.

COMPARED WITH THE FIRST QUARTER OF 1986, THE VALUE OF TOTAL EXPORTS GREW BY $21 861 MILLION OR 41.1 PER CENT, THAT OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS BY $9 382 MILLION OR 32.2 PER CENT, AND THAT OF RE-EXPORTS BY $12 479 MILLION OR 52.0 PER CENT. OVER THIS PERIOD, THE VALUE OF IMPORTS GREW BY $22 694 MILLION OR 40.8 PER CENT, TO $78 366 MILLION.

A CUMULATIVE VISIBLE TRADE DEFICIT OF $3 354 MILLION EQUIVALENT TO 4.3 PER CENT OF THE VALUE OF IMPORTS, WAS RECORDED IN THE FIRST QUARTER OF 1987. THIS COMPARES WITH A VISIBLE TRADE DEFICIT OF $2 521 MILLION IN THE FIRST QUARTER OF 1986, WHICH WAS EQUIVALENT TO 4.5 PER CENT OF THE VALUE OF IMPORTS IN THAT QUARTER.

COMMENTING ON THESE FIGURES, A GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT SPOKESMAN SAID THAT THE GROWTH MOMENTUM OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS IN THE LATTER PART OF 1986 HAD CONTINUED INTO THE FIRST QUARTER OF THIS YEAR, REFLECTING STRONG DEMAND FOR HONG KONG PRODUCTS IN OVERSEAS MARKETS AND THE STIMULATING EFFECT OF THE DEPRECIATION OF THE HONG KONG DOLLAR, IN LINE WITH THAT OF THE U.S. DOLLAR, AGAINST MOST OTHER MAJOR CURRENCIES DURING THE COURSE OF 1986 AND THE EARLY MONTHS OF 1987.

THE VERY

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