Exports continued to slide in August

Exports slid for the fifth straight month in August while manufacturing slowed on weak global demand, the government reported Friday.

A preliminary report of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that sales of Philippine-made goods to overseas buyers fell by 6.3 percent to $5.13 billion last August from $5.47 billion a year ago.

The year-on-year rate of decline posted in August was the fastest in three months.

As exports registered year-on-year growth only during the month of March thus far, the total during the first eight months slid by 4.4 percent to $39.34 billion from $41.13 billion in end-August last year.

“The latest export performance mirrors the recent developments in the global economy: The slowing down of global trade, sluggish momentum in industrial production in major economies and downward price pressure on commodities,” Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan explained in a statement.

“With the absence of fresh triggers to spur re newed demand from major advanced economies, the exports sector is expected to remain constrained in the coming months,” added Balisacan, who is also the director-general of the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda).

Last month, Balisacan already conceded that the 7-percent exports growth target for the year could not be met as shipments would likely be flat by yearend.

In August, only Vietnam recorded exports growth among East and Southeast Asian economies, Neda noted in a report.

In the case of the Philippines, exports last August were weighed down by lower revenues from minerals as well as agro-based goods, Neda said.

Agricultural exports, for instance, slid for the seventh consecutive month and hit a 37.4-percent year-on-year drop in August—the steepest so far this year—due to lower sales of coconut and sugar products, among other fruits and vegetables, according to Neda.

“The exports sector remains constrained by sluggish global demand, low oil prices and most importantly, the threat of El Niño to the agriculture sector,” Balisacan warned.

As for manufacturing, it posted 3.7-percent growth as measured by the Volume of Production Index last August, although slower than the 5.7-percent expansion in the same month last year, the PSA’s latest Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected Industries showed.

Neda attributed the improved manufacturing figure in August to “vigorous construction activity and high demand for automotive products.”

But Balisacan said that “we must continuously drive domestic demand to offset the low global demand and strengthen the link between the agriculture and manufacturing sectors to reduce the economy’s vulnerability to external supply shocks.”

The Neda chief nonetheless expressed confidence that the manufacturing sector would get a big boost from the upcoming Christmas holidays as well as next year’s national elections.