MANILA, July 12 (Xinhua) -- Philippine exports fell by 3.8 percent year-on-year to 4.7 billion U.S. dollars in May due to weak global demand, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said Tuesday.
This was the 14th consecutive month that the country's exports declined, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia said as he stressed the need to refocus export strategies of firms.
"The growth of exports is expected to remain muted for the rest of 2016 with the slow recovery of the global economy. Given the soft demand, export-oriented firms may need to refocus their strategies to consider non-traditional markets, which have shown healthier appetites in recent months," he said.
Exports of agro-based products fell by 29.4 percent, mineral products by 13.6 percent, manufactures by 0.5 percent, forest products by 82.6 percent, and petroleum products by 33.4 percent. However, this is a noticeable easing off since the 15.1-percent decline in March 2016.
Pernia also cited the importance of increasing the flexibility of export firms to cater to the domestic market, given robust domestic demand.
"We also need to keep government spending on track to ensure that domestic demand continues to provide a cushion to mitigate the impact of the country's weak exports growth," said Pernia, who is also NEDA Director-General.
For the first five months to May, total exports plunged by 6.6 percent to 22.074 billion U.S. dollars from 23.638 billion U.S. dollars in the same period last year.
