PH factory output continues slide in May
Credit to Author: The Manila Times| Date: Fri, 05 Jul 2019 16:16:03 +0000
THE country’s factory output, both in volume and value, continued to contract in May, but at a pace slower than April’s, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed on Friday.
Results of the Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected Industries for the month revealed that the volume of production index (VoPI) dropped by 4 percent from last year’s 13-percent expansion, but improved from April’s 14.3-percent plunge.
The May volume figure represented the sixth straight month that factory production declined.
“Six major industry groups registered annual decreases, with furniture and fixtures and food manufacturing posting the highest annual declines of 35 percent and 14 percent, respectively,” the PSA said.
The value of production index (VaPI), meanwhile, dipped by 2.1 percent, a retreat from the 14.8-percent expansion in May 2018 and an improvement from April’s 11.3-percent contraction.
The latest value figure marked the fourth consecutive month that output worth dropped.
The state-run statistics agency attributed the drop to annual decreases in leather products (-18.3 percent), food manufacturing (-17.7 percent), miscellaneous manufactures (-15.6 percent), and basic metals (-13.5 percent).
In a statement also on Friday, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said a stronger push for policies and programs that improve food production and public spending, and will capacitate micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), was needed to strengthen manufacturing growth.
“More important, we need measures to boost the productivity of agriculture and strengthen supply chain linkages between local and foreign producers of raw food products and food manufacturers to increase food production,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia said in the statement.
“Food products, the largest subsector, has [a] significant impact on the overall performance of the manufacturing sector,” he added.
According to the NEDA chief, the government’s rice farm mechanization program should be “seamlessly implemented” to make rice farming more efficient and productive.
“It will also drive up the demand for farm equipment, thereby improving manufacturing industry and create more jobs for Filipinos,” he said.
“To increase the demand for consumer goods, [the] government needs to accelerate public-works spending and fast-track the implementation of socioeconomic programs.”
ANNA LEAH E. GONZALES
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