Export earnings drop for third straight month
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HE country’s export earnings contracted for the third consecutive month in February, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). Figures from the PSA showed the country’s export earnings declined 18.1 percent in February. In January and December 2022, export earnings contracted 13.1 percent and 7.7 percent, respectively. Export revenues fell during the period mainly due to the 2.2-percent contraction in earnings from electronic products. “The commodity group with the highest annual decline in the value of exports in February 2023 was electronic products, which dropped by $765.48 million,” PSA said.
PSA said this was followed by coconut oil and other mineral products, which fell by $156.54 million and $126.51 million, respectively. Total export earnings in the first two months of the year amounted to $10.33 billion. This represented a decline of 15.6 percent from the year-to-date annual total export value of $12.25 billion in January to February 2022. Meanwhile, the country’s total import bill contracted by 12.1 percent year-on-year to $8.95 billion in February. In January, it recorded an annual increase of 4.1 percent, while in February 2022, it exhibited a double-digit annual increase of 26.3 percent.
With this, the country recorded a trade deficit amounting to $3.88 billion, which is narrower by 2.7 percent compared to the $3.98 billion in February 2022. PSA data showed that in January 2023, the trade deficit recorded an annual growth of 27.1 percent and in February 2022, it posted an annual increase of 47.2 percent. “The balance of trade in goods [BoT-G] is the difference between the value of export and import,” the PSA said. In February, the country’s total external trade in goods amounted to $14.03 billion, which was 4.4 percent lower than the previous year’s level. In January, total trade contracted 2.2 percent. It expanded
by 22.1 percent in February 2022. Of the total external trade in February, the PSA said 63.8 percent were imported goods, while the rest were exported goods.
Markets
ACCORDING to the PSA, Japan was the country’s top export destination while the People’s Republic of China was the Philippines’s top source of imported products. In terms of exports, Japan accounted for the highest export value amounting to $822.65 million or a share of 16.2 percent to the country’s total exports in February. Other top export markets are See “Export,” A2
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Wednesday, April 12, 2023 Vol. 18 No. 177
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BSP: HEADWINDS WEIGHED ON INVESTOR DECISIONS
Jan FDI inflows fall to $448M
MILITARY DRILLS Filipino and American troopers salute during opening ceremonies for the Balikatan joint military exercise at Camp Aguinaldo on Tuesday, April 11, 2023, in Quezon City, as (right) demonstrators carry placards and shout slogans in front of the camp. The Philippines and the United States launch their largest combat exercises in decades that will involve live-fire drills, including a boat-sinking rocket assault in waters across the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait that will likely inflame China. (Story on A10). AP/AARON FAVILA & NONOY LACZA By Cai U. Ordinario
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@caiordinario
HE foreign direct investments (FDIs) booked by the Philippines reached only $448 million in January, according to data released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). The January figure was the lowest net FDI inflows recorded by the Philippines since May 2021, when net inflows reached $426 million. Net FDI inflows during the month contracted by 45.7 percent from the previous year’s $824 million.
“This resulted from the decrease in non-residents’ net investments in debt instruments and equity capital,” the BSP said. “FDI net inflows declined during the month amid global economic uncertainties and high inflation, See “FDI,” A2
LOCAL FACTORIES SHED OVER 300K JOBS IN FEB
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HE manufacturing sector shed over 300,000 jobs in February due to significant declines in employment in several subsectors, including tea production, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). In a briefing on Tuesday, National Statistician Claire Dennis S. Mapa said 2.47 million Filipinos were without jobs during the period. This represented a decline of 651,000 jobs from February 2022 but an increase of
102,000 compared to January. Sectors that saw the large st de c l i ne i n job s on a month-on-month basis were manufacturing which lost 319,000 jobs. In February, only 3.36 million Filipinos were employed in manufacturing from 3.68 million in January. “Jobs can’t just disappear in droves,” University of the Philippines School of Economics Head of Research Renator See “Jobs,” A2
CHED shutters 15 maritime programs following review By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla
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HE Commission on Higher Education (CHED) has shut down 15 maritime programs, which failed to meet international standards, as part of its review of seafarer schools nationwide. In a press conference in Malacañang last Tuesday, CHED Chairperson Prospero E. De Vera III said the crackdown is part of the government’s initiatives to address the concerns raised by the European Maritime Safety Agency
(EMSA) on the quality of the training of Filipino seafarers. “We’re very strict, the technical panel and our technical evaluators have gone through the programs and we have closed 15 over the past year and a half,” De Vera said. Aside from CHED, the said technical panel also has representatives from the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA). The number of shuttered maritime programs could still increase See “CHED,” A2
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 54.4280 n JAPAN 0.4074 n UK 67.4091 n HK 6.9337 n CHINA 7.9070 n SINGAPORE 40.8465 n AUSTRALIA 36.1402 n EU 59.1306 n KOREA 0.0413 n SAUDI ARABIA 14.5087 Source:
BSP (11 April 2023)