Lower exports seen this year

MANILA, Philippines - The country’s merchandise exports will not only be missing growth targets this year but will also likely end in the red, an industry official said.

Philippine Exports Confederation (PhilExport) president Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr. said the country would be fortunate to see exports finish on the same level as the previous year.

“Right now, I think we can hope for a little positive or flat but it’s very possible that it can be negative,” Ortiz-Luis said.

“We’re already in the nine months of the data and we are still negative,” he added.

Latest data from the government showed merchandise exports for the first eight months of the year contracted 4.4 percent to $39.34 billion from $41.13 billion in the same period in 2014.

Electronic products remained to the country’s top export with total receipts of $2.353 billion, accounting for 45.9 percent of total exports revenue in August.

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan earlier gave up on the seven-percent exports growth target of the government this year, saying growth may be flat this year compared to the 2014 levels.

Merchandise exports last year stood at $61.8 billion, nine percent higher from that recorded in 2013.

In an interview last month, Ortiz-Luis was still optimistic the country’s exports will manage to grow three to four percent this year despite a few setbacks experienced early on.

Exporters are still awaiting for a proposed support fund worth P1.7 billion from the government to boost the country’s export growth.

Once issued, the budget which will be used to help finance exporters promotional activities which will be handled by the Department of Trade and Industry.