December export growth fails to snap full-year fall

(Updated) — Philippine merchandise exports grew by almost a quarter last December, reversing their huge drop in the same month a year earlier following increased sales of electronic products. But the growth was not enough to arrest a declining trend for the year, with total sales sliding by more than a fifth, the National Statistics Office said on Wednesday. Exports first rebounded in November after 14 straight months of decline, fueled mainly by sales abroad of office and industrial equipment, as well as automotive parts. Export earnings for December reached $3.304 billion, bringing the annual total to $38.327 billion. The December total was more than a tenth lower than the month-ago level. The full-year export performance was worse than the government's forecast of a 13-15 percent slump but better than the industry's expected decline of a quarter. Electronic products, which accounted for 56.9 percent of total export revenues in December, grew by 40.9 percent to $1.88 billion from a year earlier. Meanwhile, apparel and clothing accessories, which made up 4 percent of total exports, were the second top gainer with revenues worth $131.54 million. "This commodity group, however, exhibited a year-on-year decrease of 17.8 percent from $159.96 million in December 2008," the NSO said. Coconut oil was the third top earner with total export earnings hitting $87.4 million in December, or a 2.6-percent share. A rebound in exports and spending related to the local and national polls in May are expected to push economic output growth past 2.6 percent in the first quarter. Faster growth should be accompanied by higher revenue collection, in turn lessening pressure on government efforts to plug a massive budget deficit, the government said earlier. The Philippine economy grew by just 0.6 percent in the first quarter of 2009. With economic growth having accelerated to 1.8 percent in the fourth quarter, full-year growth stood at 0.9 percent, at the lower end of the government's 0.8-1.8 percent target. This year, the government expects growth to come in at 2.6-3.6 percent. The US emerged as the Philippines' top export destination in December with a 19-percent share and earnings worth $627.86 million, 9.4 percent higher than a year earlier. Japan followed with export earnings of $507.46 million or a 15.4-percent share, more than a tenth bigger than the year-ago level. The Netherlands came in third with shipments worth $295.24 million, more than three-quarters higher and representing an 8.9-percent share. The other top 10 markets for December were Singapore, China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Thailand and Taiwan. — Norman P. Aquino, GMANews.TV