(UPDATE) Exports drop for 7th month in April
By Karen Flores, abs-cbnNEWS.com | 06/10/2009 11:12 AM
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MANILA - Philippine merchandise exports fell 35.2 percent to $2.803 billion in April, the seventh consecutive month of year-on-year declines for the country, the National Statistics Office reported Wednesday.
The latest figure is a huge drop from $4.33 billion or a 4.9-percent growth posted in the same period last year. It was also slightly lower than the country's March exports, which suffered a 30.9-percent decline at $2.9 billion.
Shipments of electronic products, which accounted for 60.1 percent of total export revenues, plunged 33.2 percent to $1.69 billion from $2.51 billion recorded in the same month last year. This was mainly caused by the 34.2-percent decrease in semiconductor exports, which took the biggest share of electronic products at 44.2 percent.
Aside from electronics, other key exports of the Philippines include garments and accessories, vehicle parts, petroleum products, woodcrafts and furniture, bananas, tuna, and other metal components.
Almost all of the country's top exports suffered year-on-year declines in April except for tuna, which posted a 10-percent gain at $29.58 billion.
The United States remained the country's top destination for exports in April, receiving $447.27 million or 16 percent of Philippine exports for the month. The amount, however, is a 35.3-percent drop from $691.38 million recorded in the same month last year.
Japan was the second-highest importer with export earnings of $433.86 million, followed by China ($306.86 million), Hong Kong ($265.76 million), Netherlands ($264.58 million), Singapore ($169.86 million), Germany ($149.69 million), Korea ($138.36 million), Malaysia ($114.74 million), and Taiwan ($104.49 million).
The government has earlier projected a 13 to 15 percent drop in export earnings this year from a 2.86-percent drop in 2008, as demand from main markets such as the United States continue to decline due to the global economic crisis.
It has also lowered its growth targets for the year at 3.1 to 4.1 percent, which may be cut further given the country's dismal gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 0.4 percent for the first quarter of 2009.
"We would possibly downscale our growth targets, but it is still positive," Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ralph Recto told reporters on Tuesday. The government is set to review and approve the proposed changes to the country's growth targets today.
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