Trade gap widens 38%; exports, imports grow slower
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World | A15
Ukraine lauds Western move on tanks, while Russia attacks
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HE country’s lackluster external trade performance in December 2022 left exports and imports posting slower full-year growth compared to last year, according to data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). The data also showed the country’s trade deficit reached $53.318 billion in 2022, a 38.1-percent growth from the $42.2 billion in 2021. In December 2022, the deficit reached $4.6 billion, a 10.2-percent decline from the $5.1 billion in December 2021. The balance of trade in goods (BoT-G) is the difference between the value of export and
import, PSA said. PSA data showed exports contracted 9.7 percent while imports declined 9.9 percent. As a result, export earnings only grew 5.6 percent while the growth in import receipts slowed to 17.3 percent. In 2021, PSA data showed exports posted a full-year growth of 14.5 percent while imports grew 30.1 percent. The year-to-date annual total export earnings from January to December 2022 amounted to $78.84 billion. The year-to-date annual total import value amounted to $137.16 billion. As a result, the country’s total external trade in goods amount-
ed to $215.99 billion in 2022, a 12.8-percent growth from the $191.536 billion in 2021. For December 2022, the countr y’s tota l exter na l trade in goods amounted to $15.93 billion, a contraction of 9.9 percent from its level in the same per iod of the prev ious year.
Electronics
Meanwhile, PSA data showed electronic products continued to be the country’s primary export and import in December and the full year of 2022. Exports of electronic products reached $45.58 billion in the January to December period while in
December, export earnings reached $3.17 billion. Imports of these products amounted to $32.79 billion from January to December and reached $2.42 billion in the last month of 2022. Meanwhile, the top gainers in terms of exports for the full year of 2022 were Iron and Steel, with an average growth of 97.1 percent; Seaweeds and Carrageenan, 56.6 percent; Other Products Manufactured from Materials Imported on Consignment Basis, 49.9 percent; Coconut Oil, 46.7; and Mangoes, 37 percent. See “Trade,” A2
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Friday, January 27, 2023 Vol. 18 No. 104
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Palace touts ‘economic stewardship’ for growth
By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario
HE Philippine economy may have breached P20 trillion for the first time, but per capita incomes of Filipinos are not yet back to what they were before the pandemic. On Thursday, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) disclosed that the economy grew 7.6 percent, the fastest in 46 years or in 1976 when GDP rose 8.8 percent. In the last quarter of 2022, the PSA reported, the economy grew 7.2 percent, marking the seventh consecutive month of growth since the second quarter of 2021. “It’s not enough that our economy is growing,” National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said. “On a per capita basis, we actually haven’t recovered yet the
2019 per capita income level. So, we are not there yet.” Based on data shared by National Statistician Claire Dennis S. Mapa, the country’s GDP in current prices reached P22.02 trillion in 2022 from P19.41 trillion in 2021; P17.95 trillion in 2020; and P19.52 trillion in 2019. In constant prices, which is adjusted for inflation, GDP was at P19.95 trillion from P18.54 trillion in 2021; P17.54 trillion in 2020; and P19.38 trillion in 2019. See “Growth,” A2
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Dennis S. Mapa, National Statistician and Civil Registrar General, and Socioeconomic Planning Secretary and NEDA Director General Arsenio M. Balisacan, brief the media on the fourth-quarter performance of the Philippine economy. Philippine GDP posted growth of 7.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2022, resulting in a 7.6-percent full-year growth in 2022, the PSA said. NONOY LACZA
ALACAÑANG on Thursday attributed the 7.6 percent fullyear economic growth last year to President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s “economic stewardship.” In a statement, the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) noted the policies which were implemented by Marcos since he assumed the presidency in July, particularly in handling the pandemic, helped accelerate the country’s economic development. See “Palace,” A2
Int’l tourism arrivals could hit 1.4B in 2023–UNWTO By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo
@akosistellaBM Special to the BusinessMirror
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“Dinagyang and the feast of Santo Niño is truly beyond politics,” Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas exclaimed as the annual dance, street and food festival returned after a two-year hiatus. Co-presented by SM City Iloilo, the Iloilo City local government, and the Iloilo Festivals Foundation Inc. (IFFI), the celebration saw key government officials, celebrities and foreign dignitaries including First Lady Liza Marcos, YouTube sensation Small Laude, broadcast journalist Karen Davila, lifestyle columnist and philanthropist Tessa Prieto Valdez, television presenter and entrepreneur Tim Yap, former senator Franklin Drilon, Sen. Risa Hontiveros, and House Speaker Martin Romualdez, among others. In photo, from left : House Speaker Martin Romualdez, SM Supermalls President Steven Tan, First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos, and Iloilo City Mayor Treñas. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
PESO exchange rates n US 54.6250
EVENGE travel in most parts of the world will lead a number of regions to return to pre-pandemic tourism levels this year, but global political and economic realities could impact on plans. In its latest report, the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) said, “After stronger-than-expected recovery in 2022, this year could see international tourist arrivals return to pre-pandemic levels in Europe and the Middle East. Tourists are none-
theless expected to increasingly seek value for money and travel closer to home in response to the challenging economic climate.” The UNWTO projects international tourist arrivals could reach some 1.2 billion to 1.4 billion this year, “depending on the extent of the economic slowdown, the ongoing recovery of travel in Asia and the Pacific, and the evolution of the Russian offensive in Ukraine, among other factors.” Latest data compiled by UNWTO show over 900 million international arrivals in 2022, double the number recorded in 2021. See “Tourism,” A2
n japan 0.4215 n UK 67.7514 n HK 6.9758 n CHINA 8.0642 n singapore 41.6032 n australia 38.7947 n EU 59.6450 n KOREA 0.0443 n SAUDI arabia 14.5507 Source: BSP (January 26, 2023)