Export earnings expanded in February

CEBU, Philippines - According to the Institute for Development and Econometric Analysis, Inc. (IDEA) latest Newsbriefs, a weekly digest produced by IDEA, Inc. to highlight the most recent national and international economic events, the country’s export earnings reached US$4.431 billion in February 2012, translating to a 14.6 percent increase from the previous year’s US$3.865 billion. On a monthly basis, earnings posted a 7.4-percent growth from January’s exports valued at US$4.123 billion. Aggregate merchandise exports for January and February summed up to US$8.554 billion, an 8.8-percent increase from 2011’s US$7.865 billion.

Per IDEA, electronic products once again emerged as the country’s top export, accounting for 52.7 percent of the total exports revenue. Its total receipts expanded by 15.8 percent from US$2.015 to US$2.333 billion. Completing the list of top five exports were Woodcrafts and Furniture; Articles of Apparel and Clothing Accessories; Ignition Wiring Set and Other Wiring Sets Used in Vehicles, Aircrafts, and Ships; and Metal Components, with a year-on-year growth of 20.2 percent, negative 4.7 percent, 5.4 percent, and negative 5.2 percent, respectively. Annual exports earnings growth for 2012 was set at 10 percent.

Likewise per same published report, Php9-billion worth of reissued treasury bonds were sold by the government. The seven-year bonds, with a remaining life of four years and eleven months, fetched 4.61 percent. National Treasurer Roberto B. Tan reported that the rate aligned with the secondary market rate, and within forecast of 4.6 t0 4.7 percent. Meanwhile, five-year debt papers fetched 4.475 percent in the secondary market.

Furthermore, as of February, the government has already reached and surpassed its revenue and tax effort targets. The ratio of revenues to gross domestic product or revenue effort stood at 14.7 percent, surpassing this year’s 14.2-percent target, with improved collections from both bureaus of Internal Revenue and Customs. Taxes, meanwhile, comprised 14.2 percent of the GDP, also surpassing the 13.1 percent target for 2012.

Overall, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) maintained its 4.8-percent economic growth projection for the Philippines for 2012 on the back of increases in public spending, investments, and private consumption. This is an improvement from 2011’s 3.7-percent growth, but falls below the government’s 5- to 6-percent target. ADB expects the country’s economy to pick up by 2013, but warns that structural weaknesses still serve as hindrances to achieving inclusive growth. Information technology (IT) outsourcing emerged as the fastest-growing business process outsourcing segment in terms of revenue. The Business Process Association of the Philippines said that IT outsourcing revenues expanded by 37 percent to US$993 million.

Lastly, the peso shed four centavos due to the lower-than-expected nonfarm payrolls reported by the US Bureau of Statistics. This, however, was not as weak as it had been expected, since remittances allowed the peso to strengthen over the long holiday break according to IDEA.

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