XN000022-1994-09-22 — Page 3

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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1994

THE RETURNEES WERE ACCOMPANIED ON THE PLANE BY AN ESCORT OF 53 PEOPLE. THEY COMPRISED 44 OF THE 60 POLICE OFFICERS INVOLVED IN THE OPERATION AND NINE OTHERS. THE OTHERS WERE IMMIGRATION OFFICERS, INTERPRETERS, COUNSELLORS AND NURSING STAFF.

COMMENTING ON VARYING REPORTS ABOUT THE NUMBER OF INJURIES ARISING FROM THE TWO-DAY OPERATION ON MONDAY AND TUESDAY (SEPTEMBER 19 AND 20), A GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN SAID A TOTAL OF 228 VIETNAMESE AT HIGH ISLAND HAD SOUGHT TREATMENT SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE OPERATION, AND 142 OF THEM REQUIRED TREATMENT.

HE

ADDED THAT 61 COMPLAINTS OF ASSAULT HAD BEEN MADE TO DATE. CASES HAVE BEEN OR ARE BEING REFERRED TO THE POLICE FOR INVESTIGATION.

THESE

0

CONSUMER PRICE INDICES FOR AUGUST 1994

THE CONSUMER PRICE INDEX (A) IN AUGUST THIS YEAR WAS 9.8% HIGHER THAN IN AUGUST LAST YEAR, ACCORDING TO FIGURES RELEASED TODAY (THURSDAY) BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT.

THIS REPRESENTED A FURTHER PICK-UP INCREASES OF 7.5% IN JUNE AND 8.5% IN JULY.

FROM THE

CORRESPONDING

WAS MAINLY SUPPLY WAS

COMMENTING ON THE AUGUST FIGURES, A GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN POINTED OUT: "THE FURTHER PICK-UP IN INFLATION IN AUGUST DUE TO AN UPSURGE IN THE PRICES OF SOME VEGETABLES, AS DISRUPTED FOLLOWING THE RECENT FLOODING IN SOUTH CHINA AND SEVERAL HEAVY RAINSTORMS IN HONG KONG.

IN JULY.

"THE PARTIAL IMPACT OF THIS SUPPLY DISRUPTION WAS ALREADY FELT

THE FULL IMPACT OCCURRED IN AUGUST.'

tu

"EXCLUDING THE VEGETABLES COMPONENT, THE PRICE INCREASES MOST OF THE OTHER COMPONENTS OF THE CPI IN AUGUST WERE BROADLY SAME AS THOSE IN JULY. THUS THE UNDERLYING INFLATION SITUATION BASICALLY STABLE," HE NOTED.

FOR

THE WAS

"THE PRICES OF VEGETABLES RECORDED AN AVERAGE INCREASE OF 62% IN AUGUST 1994 WHEN COMPARED WITH AUGUST 1993.

THE CORRESPONDING INCREASE FOR JULY 1994, WHEN COMPARED WITH JULY 1993, WAS 11%. MOST RECENTLY, THERE ARE INDICATIONS THAT VEGETABLE PRICES HAVE BEGUN ΤΟ SETTLE," HE OBSERVED.

"FOR THE FIRST EIGHT MONTHS OF THIS YEAR TAKEN TOGETHER. THE INCREASE IN THE CPI(A) AVERAGED AT 7.9%, WHICH WAS STILL LOWER THAN THE AVERAGE INCREASE OF 8.5% IN 1993 AND THE OFFICIAL FORECAST ALSO OF 8.5% FOR 1994 AS A WHOLE," HE ADDED.

THE CONSUMER PRICE INDEX (B) AND THE HANG SENG CPI WERE HIGHER BY 9.5% AND 10.4% RESPECTIVELY IN AUGUST 1994 THAN IN THE SAME MONTH LAST YEAR. THE CORRESPONDING INCREASES IN JULY 1994 WERE 8.6% AND 9.9%.

/THE COMPOSITE