ROTARY CLUB OF MANILA JOURNALISM AWARDS
2006 National Newspaper of the Year 2011 National Newspaper of the Year 2013 Business Newspaper of the Year 2017 Business Newspaper of the Year 2019 Business Newspaper of the Year 2021 Pro Patria Award PHILIPPINE STATISTICS AUTHORITY 2018 Data Champion
BusinessMirror
EJAP JOURNALISM AWARDS
BUSINESS NEWS SOURCE OF THE YEAR
(2017, 2018, 2019, 2020)
DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
2018 BANTOG MEDIA AWARDS
A broader look at today’s business
MORE FAMILY MEMBERS JOIN WORK FORCE–PSA www.businessmirror.com.ph
■
Thursday, November 7, 2024 Vol. 20 No. 29
Trade deficit posts largest growth in 2 yrs–PSA
B C U. O
M
P. | | 7 DAYS A WEEK
@caiordinario
UCH like the celebration of Christmas, earning a living has become a family affair, especially amid soaring commodity prices, according to the latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
T
DE La Salle University economist Maria Ella Oplas told BUSINESSMIRROR said the increase in women workers is a good sign that more women feel empowered enough to work and contribute to the family’s finances. In terms of seniors, she said this was mainly due to the need to compensate the earnings of family breadwinners. This is the reason they look for side jobs that will enable them to share their family’s financial burdens. “In other countries, it’s normal to see high employment among seniors because they have aging populations but in the Philippines, [it’s not the case]. So the question is ‘what makes them want to work?’ [It’s because] the com-
HE country’s trade deficit continued to widen and posted its largest increase in over two years, according to the latest data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). Per the International Merchandise Trade Statistics (IMTS), the country’s trade deficit posted a 43.4-percent growth in September 2024, the highest since the 81.1-percent growth recorded in August 2022. The country’s trade deficit has posted consecutive growth since the 7.5-percent growth recorded in May 2024. Prior to the September estimate, the deficit grew the fastest at 18.2 percent in July this year. The PSA said the trade deficit reached $5.09 billion in September, which placed the country’s nine-month deficit at $39.4 billion. In August 2024, the trade deficit registered an annual increase of 7 percent, while an annual decrease of 25.5 percent was recorded in September 2023. Meanwhile, the PSA data showed export earnings contracted 7.6 percent after two consecutive months of flat growth. The largest contraction in exports this year was at 17.3 percent recorded in June 2024. The country’s total export sales amounted to $6.26 billion, a 7.6-percent contraction from the $6.77-billion total export sales in the same month of the previous year. In August 2024, the total export sales registered an annual increase of 0.3 percent, while it posted an annual decline of 6.6 percent in September 2023. PSA said year-to-date annual total value of exports—that is, from January to September 2024—amounted to $55.67 billion. This represents an annual increase of 1.1 percent from the year-to-date annual total export value of $55.08 billion in January to September 2023. “The commodity group with the highest annual [decline] in the value of exports in September 2024 was electronic products with $945.82 million,” PSA said. “This was followed by copper concentrates with an annual decrease of $41.68 million; and cathodes and sections of cathodes, of refined copper with an annual decline of $21.8 million,” it added. Meanwhile, the country’s total import receipts amounted to $11.34 billion, indicating an annual increase of 9.9 percent from the $10.32-billion import value in the same month of the previous year. In August 2024, the import value recorded an annual increment of 2.9 percent, while an annual decline of 14.1 percent was registered in September 2023. PSA data also showed imports amounted to $95.07 billion in the January to September
S “PSA,” A
S “D,” A
Women, seniors, and young workers have joined breadwinners in supporting their family’s financial needs amid rising prices and the upcoming holidays. PSA data showed a 2.21-million increase in the number of employed Filipinos to 49.87 million in September 2024 from the 47.67 million posted in September 2023. “So year on year, our female workers, part of the 2.21 million, ang number nila ay 1.34 million female workers [while] 862,000 thereabouts are male workers. So, we had more female workers entering [the labor force],” PSA Undersecretary Claire Dennis S. Mapa said. “In terms of age, as we have seen in the previous months and even quarters, the senior workers are increasing, both in terms of numbers and in terms of percentage of workers,” he added, speaking partly in Filipino. PSA data showed an increase of 391,000 senior workers who were employed, bringing the total number of Filipinos aged 64 and over who are working to 2.8 million in September 2024 from 2.4 million in September 2023. PSA data also showed young workers who were employed also increased by 339,000 to 6.148 million in September 2024 from the 5.809 million recorded in September 2023.
Good sign
‘TRUMP PRESIDENCY GOOD FOR PHILIPPINE ECONOMY’ B M T-B
A
@maloutalosig
DONALD Trump presidency is good for the Philippine economy, an economist and senator said as the Republican candidate reclaimed the White House after winning three of the seven battleground states Wednesday. Trump has vowed to increase tariffs for products imported by the US if re-elected. Such protectionist measure will likely affect countries with a trade surplus with the US. The Philippines enjoys a trade surplus with the United States approximately $10 billion in 2022. While the Philippines has more exports than imports to the US, Trump’s trade policy will not likely affect the Philippines, according to Prof. George Manzano, PhD of the Uni-
versity of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P) School of Economics. “When you look at the export profile or the types of goods that the Philippines exports to the US, around 50-60 percent are electronic products. And electronic products usually enter the US duty-free,” Manzano said. The International Technology Agreement (ITA) under the World Trade Organization binds countries to trade electronic products at very low tariffs or zero tariffs. An increase on tariff in semiconductors would also hurt the IT industry of the US because these are intermediate products, he said. If the prices of intermediate products are expensive due to higher tariffs, then the cost S “V,” A
‘PHL can be dominant force in global digital economy’ B A E. S J @andreasanjuan
T
HE Philippines can become a “dominant force” in the global digital economy after it emerged as the fastest-growing internet economy in Southeast Asia in 2024, based on the recent report by Google, Temasek and Bain& Company, according to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). The 9th edition of the Google e-Conomy SEA Report showed the country posted a 20 percent growth in the overall digital economy based on its Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) which rose to $31 billion in 2024, from the $26 billion recorded in 2023. The e-Conomy SEA report by the three firms covers six countries in Southeast Asia: Indonesia,
Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Among these six countries, the Philippines posted the fastest growth rate in the overall digital economy based on GMV as it grew by 20 percent. This was followed by Thailand, 19 percent; Malaysia, 16 percent; Vietnam, 16 percent; Indonesia, 13 percent, and Singapore, 13 percent. “The Philippines is strategically positioned to maximize its demographic advantages and technological capabilities and become a dominant force in the global digital economy,” DTI Acting Secretary Cristina A. Roque said in a statement on Wednesday. According to the e-Conomy SEA 2024 report, the Philippines C A
PESO EXCHANGE RATES US 58.3860 ■ JAPAN 0.3851 ■ UK 76.1529 ■ HK 7.5117 ■ SINGAPORE 44.4507 ■ AUSTRALIA 38.7391 ■ SAUDI ARABIA 15.5435 ■ EU 63.8276 ■ KOREA 0.0424 ■ CHINA 8.2164 Source: BSP (November 6, 2024)