TNAG-1766-FCO40-2520-Hong-Kong-Budget-Appropriation-Ordinance-1988-(No.-23-of-198-1988 — Page 37

9.

At a time when the economy was operating at full capacity, public sector expenditure grew more slowly than that

of the private sector. This minimised, as was entirely appropriate, the extent to which resources were absorbed by the

public sector (4).

(4)

Government expenditure in national accounts terms differs from that shown in the Consolidated Account. Details of the difference are given in Appendix A. In national accounts terms, public sector expenditure grew by about 6% in 1987; the corresponding growth rate of private sector expenditure was about 12%. Taking into account changes in prices, the share of public sector expenditure in aggregate domestic demand dropped from 11% in 1986 to 10.6% in 1987. However, as regards expenditure on building and construction, a growth rate of 6.9% was recorded for the public sector in 1987, compared with a figure of 6.4% for the private sector.

(5) Hong Kong's visible trade in 1987:

% increase

$ million

in money terms

Domestic exports

195,254

26.8

Re-exports

182,780

49.2

Total exports

378,034

36.7

Imports*

379,989

36.9

Visible trade balance

(1,955)

Visible trade deficit as a percentage

of the total value of imports of goods

0.5%

including an estimate of imports of gold for industrial and commercial

use.

/10. During

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