Exports seen growing by 8-10% in ’12
The country’s exports may grow by 8 to 10 percent in 2012 from last year, Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo told reporters on the sidelines of Franchise Asia Philippines 2012.
His forecast is slightly lower than the Export Development Council’s (EDC) official export growth target of 10 percent for 2012.
Domingo also said that a 7-percent or higher economic growth rate (in terms of gross domestic product, or GDP) was possible for the Philippines this year. That is higher than the official target of 5 to 6 percent.
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The trade secretary’s optimism was boosted by the higher-than-expected GDP growth rate of 6.4 percent in the first quarter of the year.
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On exports, however, Domingo said his projection was lower than the official target given the flat growth posted by the electronics sector in the first five months of the year.
He said it would take a 10-percent growth for the rest of 2012 to meet the 5 percent electronics growth target of the Semiconductors and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Inc. (Seipi).
Seipi is optimistic that electronics exports will pick up later in the year and make up for sluggish performance in the first half.
However, Domingo said he would not recommend a revision in the EDC target since exporters must still strive to meet a high growth target.
Domingo said the appreciation of the peso was also considered in his export projection, as a stronger peso makes Philippine exports more expensive.
Even if the peso strengthens further, Domingo said, exporters would not be so hard-hit since they could still benefit from having more purchasing power for imports, which will come cheaper with a stronger peso.
“We can provide assistance by helping them improve efficiency and promote their products. Remember, we used to have an exchange rate of P26:$1. It’s just that we got used to P51:$1. It doesn’t mean that when the peso gets stronger, we will be uncompetitive.
