PHL February exports rise 24.4% year-on-year, says NSO

Philippine merchandise exports rose nearly a quarter in February on higher receipts from seven major commodities, including electronic equipment and parts, the National Statistics Office (NSO) reported Thursday.

Seven out of 10 major commodities were mainly responsible for lifting export earnings in February, which include other mineral products, electronic equipment and parts, machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, woodcrafts and furniture, electronic products, and other manufactures, NSO data showed. 

Exports grew by 24.4 percent to $4.654 billion in February from $3.741 billion a year earlier, and by 9.2 percent from $4.379 billion in January.

Total receipts of electronics and semiconductors, which accounted for 40.4 percent of total exports – jumped by 26.6 percent to $1.880 billion.

Security Bank Corp. economist Patrick Ella told GMA News Online the rebound in exports was expected after a fairly flat data in the early part of 2013. "It is quite consistent with the recovery in exports since August last year," he said.

Last August, Philippine merchandise exports grew 20.2 percent – the fastest pace in 11 months – to $4.58 billion.  
 
China, Japan economies weigh

However, China's economic slowdown and Japan's struggling Abenomics are a challenge to the growth of Philippine exports, Ella said.

"If China will slowdown and Abenomics in Japan will lose steam, [these] will impact on our exports," he said.

China has less and less room to rely on policy tools to support the economy, the country's top economic planning agency said on Wednesday, as the Beijing tries to arrest a protracted slowdown this year, Reuters reported.

Meanwhile, Japan's economic growth slowed to 0.7 percent on weaker business investment and consumption, which sparked doubts about Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's strategy to spark sustainable growth through massive monetary and fiscal stimulus, as well as structural reforms, the wire service reported in March.
 
Japan remains as the top buyer of Philippine products. It bought 25.4 percent of the shipments, NSO data showed. Second was China at 14.7 percent, followed by the US at 13.4 percent. – VS, GMA News