TNAG-1951-FCO40-2779-British-capital-investment-in-Hong-Kong-1989 — Page 100

CONFIDENTIAL # 3

Investment in plant and machinery

Table 1

(all growth rates quoted in this section are on a year-on-year basis and are expressed in real terms, unless otherwise indicated)

3.

(a) Capital expenditure on plant and

machinery

According to the latest estimates in

the quarterly GDP series, overall expenditure on

plant and machinery grew by 17% in the first quarter of 1989, compared with an increase of

14% for 1988 as a whole. However, in the second

quarter, the growth rate was only about 5%

(Table 1).

4.

The private sector continued to dominate investment in plant and machinery. Its

share amounted to 97% in the first half of 1989,

the same as in 1988. Private sector expenditure

on plant and machinery grew by about 6% in the second quarter of 1989, down from 17% in the first quarter. The corresponding growth rate

for 1988 as a whole was 13%. Public sector

expenditure on plant and machinery has been

subject to considerable fluctuations. Having

increased by 21% in the first quarter, it

declined by about 29% in the second quarter of

1989. For 1988 as a whole, an increase of 47%

was recorded.

G.F. 326

CONFIDENTIAL