TNAG-1762-FCO40-2516-Economic-situation-in-Hong-Kong-1988 — Page 49

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Table 2

Table 3

Table 4

49% in the third quarter respectively (Table 2). For 1987 as a whole, there was an increase of about 26% in real terms, which compares favourably with a

growth rate of only 6% recorded in 1986.

6.

Of all retained imports of capital goods

in 1987, industrial machinery was the largest component (accounting for 25% of the total value), followed by transport equipment (18%), and

electronic components and parts for computers

(7%). A breakdown of retained imports of capital goods by component is shown in Table 3, while the growth rates in money terms for the various components are shown in Table 4. Because of the difficulties in compiling reliable price

indices as the product breakdown becomes more disaggregated, growth rates in real terms are not

available for all the components. Caution should be exercised in interpreting the figures in Table 4 as the rates of increase in the prices of imported capital goods were generally high in 1986 and 1987.

7.

(c) Retained imports of industrial

machinery for use in the

manufacturing sector

Due partly to the relatively high base of comparison in the fourth quarter of 1986 and probably partly to an expected slow-down in the growth rate of domestic exports in 1988, retained imports of industrial machinery for use in the manufacturing sector increased by only about 5% in real terms in the fourth quarter of 1987, compared with an average growth rate of 24% in the first three quarters of 1987. Thus, the trend of strong growth in this category of investment, which started in the second quarter of 1986, appears to

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