Bloomberg reported that Philippine's exports bounced back with a 7.6% growth in April 2012 from a 0.8% drop in the previous month, as increased orders for apparel and gold countered a slump in electronics.
The National Statistics Office said that export earnings in April 2012 hit USD 4.6 billion, up from USD 4.3 billion a year ago. The figure was also up by 7.2% MoM from March 2012 and was the highest monthly tally since October 2010 when shipments hit USD 4.8 billion.
Mr Amando Tetangco Jr governor of Bangko Sentral said that "The uptick in exports in April is a welcome development especially given the uncertainties in other jurisdictions. If this trend is sustained, it should make the national government's growth target easier to achieve."
Total merchandise exports in the first four months also posted a 5.5% increase to USD 17.51 billion from USD 16.59 billion in the previous year. This helped the gross domestic product expand by 6.4% YoY in the first quarter. Exports account for two fifths of GDP.
Data showed electronic shipments fell by 23.8% YoY to USD 1.64 billion, the steepest decline since December 2011, when electronics orders fell 32.7%. Non electronic exports recovered in April 2012, but economists said this may not be sustained in the coming months.
Mr Emilio Neri, an economist at Bank of the Philippine Islands in Manila, said that "The performance of non electronic products can be very volatile. We should put more weight into what lies ahead. We expect extraordinary weakness in demand from Europe to persist for the rest of the year."
Rising exports could ease pressure on Bangko Sentral to add stimulus to the economy as inflation risks increase.
Mr Prakriti Sofat, a Singapore based economist at Barclays Plc, said that "We are still relatively upbeat on Philippines, given acceleration in government capex and pick up in the public private partnership program. The central bank has done its part to support growth and will remain on wait and watch for the rest of the year. However, we will maintain a presence in the market to ensure there are no excessive volatilities in the rate movements."
Exports to US rose by 19.2% to USD 677.47 million in April 2012, while shipments to China inched up 1.2% to USD 497.34 million. Exports to Japan, the top export destination in April 2012, recorded a 0.4% decline to USD 738.8 million.
Source - Bloomberg
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