Neda: Industrial output to improve in H2
The increase in capital goods imported last April suggests that industrial production may improve “in the coming months,” said Arsenio M. Balisacan, Socioeconomic Planning secretary and director-general of the National Economic and Development Authority.
The value of imported capital goods grew to $1.2 billion in April 2012 from $1.1 billion in the same period the previous year, as seen in the higher payments for office and electronic data processing machines (31.6 percent), land transportation equipment (52 percent), telecommunications equipment and electrical machinery (5 percent), power generating and specialized machines (6.7 percent), as well as aircraft, ships, and boats (5.9 percent).
“It must be noted, however, that the higher import value of some of these capital goods can be attributed to price effects as the volumes actually declined,” the Cabinet official said. Still, he noted that some foreign purchases of capital goods increased in both value and volume, reflecting the generally buoyant sentiments of businesses, which signals a likely expansion of economic activities and higher production.
Merchandise imports dropped by 13.7 percent in April 2012 to $4.8 billion from $5.5 billion last year, according to Neda.
Balisacan said the weak performance of imports last April could be traced to the lower payments for petroleum crude due to reduced volume of crude imports as well as the decline in electronics production.
“For petroleum, the large importation in the previous month may have affected crude orders for April 2012, in anticipation of easing prices. On the other hand, depressed prices of semiconductors in the international market and the generally pessimistic sentiments among consumers affected global sales of electronics,” Balisacan explained.
From January to April, imports reached $20.3 billion—lower by 4.6 percent compared to last year’s $21.3 billion.
The trade-in-goods deficit for the first four months of the year declined to $2.8 billion from the $4.7 billion of 2011.
