PH export revenue to pick up in months ahead

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said the country’s export revenues could grow by a faster pace in the months ahead on the back of a modest pick-up in global demand.

In making the projection, the BSP cited the latest book-to-bill ratio, which improved to 1.2 percent in March from the 0.95 percent reported in the same month last year.

Book-to-bill ratio—a major indicator of future export earnings—is the ratio between the value of orders for goods sold by export firms and the value of their previous deliveries. A ratio of above 1 percent indicates that the value of orders is higher than that of previous deliveries, suggesting that export revenues will grow in the succeeding months.

In 2011, the ratio consistently hovered below one percent.

“The ratio has improved to above one percent since the first quarter of this year,” said Ma. Cyd Tuaño-Amador, BSP assistant governor.

Amador said the ratio rose due to the increase in orders for electronics goods from the United States.

The electronics goods exported by the Philippines are mostly intermediate products that foreign buyers use to complete the goods, such as computers and mobile phones.

The improved ratio came about just as some US economic indicators turned favorable. These include modestly rising home sales and orders for durable goods.

Analysts said the indicators could signal that consumer and investment demand in the United States would pick up from last year.

Data from the National Statistics Office showed that the country’s exports amounted to $17.5 billion in the first four months of the year—up by 5.5 percent from $16.59 billion in the same period last year.

The BSP said the exports growth rate may accelerate in the coming months as orders from Western markets modestly rise.

Economists said the global economy would continue to suffer from uncertainties, especially because of Europe’s debt woes. Nonetheless, the BSP said the efforts of the United States and the eurozone to stimulate growth would help spur a modest rise in global demand.

In the first quarter, the Philippines’ export earnings improved, boosting growth of the domestic economy during the period. The country’s gross domestic product grew by 6.4 percent in the first quarter from a year ago.