PH export earnings fell in June

The National Economic and Development Authority Wednesday called for improved efforts to ensure the competitiveness of industries in the Philippines as export earnings fell 11.4 percent year-on-year in June.

Export receipts totaled $4.75 billion in June, dropping at the fastest rate in three consecutive months, and remaining on a downtrend for the 15th month in a row or since April 2015.

Over that period, the decrease was worst at 17.4 percent in May 2015 when exports totaled at $4.9 billion.

The PSA attributed the decline last June to decreases in receipts recorded for nine of the 10 export commodities amid weak demand from major export markets.

For the first semester of 2016, total merchandise exports reached $29 billion, rising by 7.5 percent from $26.8 billion in the comparative period of 2015.

“We must continue to improve our efforts in ensuring an enabling environment where industries can upgrade and improve their competitiveness,” Economic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia said in a statement.

Pernia cited as an example the transformation of the agriculture sector from traditional farming into a globally competitive agribusiness sector.

“This can be done by effectively linking the agriculture sector to the local and global industry supply chain,” said Pernia.

The economist said that with the slow global economic recovery, the Philippines should identify nontraditional markets such as in Europe and within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, to reduce the external shocks from times of weak demand from traditional markets.

“We should also ensure spending on infrastructure projects, particularly those related to transportation and logistics, to support the country’s growing industries,” Pernia said.

PSA data also show that the growth in the value of electronics products—which was the top export item and accounted for about 51 percent of total outbound cargo—fell by 5 percent to $2.4 billion.

In the first semester, electronics exports rose by 0.9 percent to $13.6 billion.