MANILA (Thomson Financial) - Philippine merchandise exports growth this year is likely to be weaker on a further slowdown in the US economy, high energy prices and the continued strengthening of the peso, an industry leader said Tuesday.
"Exports contributed very little to national economic growth last year, and we are seeing very little growth, if any for 2008," Sergio Ortiz-Luis, president of the Philippine Exporters Confederation or Philexport said at an energy summit here.
In the first 11 months of last year, exports rose just 4.8 percent from a year before. The reduced target for the whole year is 8 percent.
Electronics exports, which accounted for 61.3 percent of total export earnings in November, fell to 2.42 billion dollars from 2.54 billion dollars a year earlier.
The Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines or SEIPI said it is also bracing for a difficult year.
"We are anticipating demand to be weak in the first half of the year. We are just hoping that growth will, at best, be flat and won t get any worse or be negative," said SEIPI executive director Ernesto Santiago.
With exports last year weighed down by "a triple whammy of high electric rates, historic oil prices and a strong peso, nine percent of the country s exporters closed shop last year," said Luis of Philexport.
"While a recession in the US will be a drag on exports in the short-term, it is the high cost of power, triggered by a surge in crude oil prices, that has drastically eroded the viability of the exports sector," said Luis.
Electricity expenses make up about 15 percent of production costs of export manufacturing enterprises in the Philippines.
World oil prices were slightly higher Tuesday in Asian trade, hovering near 90 dollars in a market focused on the fate of the US economy.
Luis said the Philippines has one of the highest electricity rates in Asia, next only to Japan.
The country s two biggest group of exporters have been urging the Philippine government to take more concrete steps to make electricity prices more competitive.
"We hope that the government can seriously consider the exporter s plight. There is a need to address the issues of electric power quality and security, in addition to developing and tapping alternative or renewable energy sources," said Luis.
(1 US dollar = 40.69 pesos)
rocel.felix@thomson.com
MMMM
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Euro zone Nov current account surplus 0.7 bln eur vs 3.1 bln in Oct UPDATE
(Updating with financial account details)
FRANKFURT (Thomson Financial) - The euro zone current account was 0.7 bln eur in surplus in November in seasonally adjusted terms, the European Central Bank said.
This follows a revised October surplus of 3.1 bln eur. The October surplus was revised up from a provisional estimate of 1.3 bln eur.
The November surplus was slightly above market expectations. Economists polled by Thomson Financial News were looking for a November surplus of 0.4 bln eur.
The current account has now been in surplus for six months in a row. Over the 12 months to November, the euro zone had a current account surplus of 25.6 bln eur, equivalent to around 0.3 pct of GDP, the ECB said.
The ECB said surpluses in goods and services trade and in the income account once again outweighed a large deficit on current transfers in November.
The goods surplus declined to 4.8 bln eur from 8.5 bln, but the services surplus widened to 3.2 bln eur from 2.7 bln.
The surplus in the income account fell to just 0.2 bln eur from 2.3 bln the month before. The income account covers investment income flows and wages paid to workers by employers based in a different economy.
Meanwhile, the deficit on current transfers eased to 7.5 bln eur from 10.4 bln. Current transfers cover transfers between governments and workers remittances.
In unadjusted terms the current account was 1.0 bln eur in surplus in November after an October surplus of 3.9 bln.
Meanwhile, in the financial account, there was a combined net inflow of 21.2 bln eur in direct and portfolio investment in November compared with a net outflow of 34.9 bln in October.
There was a marked turnaround in portfolio investment, with a net inflow of 10.2 bln eur in November following an outflow of 56.1 bln in October.
This was mainly the result of an inflow of 25.3 bln eur in debt instruments following an outflow of 49.1 bln the month before. Equity investment outflows increased to 15.1 bln eur from 7.0 bln.
Meanwhile, direct investment inflows declined to 11.0 bln eur from 21.3 bln.
Over the year to November, inflows in direct and portfolio investment totalled 145.3 bln eur. steve.whitehouse@thomson.com sw/vlb COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2007. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Financial News. MMMM
FRANKFURT (Thomson Financial) - The euro zone current account was 0.7 bln eur in surplus in November in seasonally adjusted terms, the European Central Bank said.
This follows a revised October surplus of 3.1 bln eur. The October surplus was revised up from a provisional estimate of 1.3 bln eur.
The November surplus was slightly above market expectations. Economists polled by Thomson Financial News were looking for a November surplus of 0.4 bln eur.
The current account has now been in surplus for six months in a row. Over the 12 months to November, the euro zone had a current account surplus of 25.6 bln eur, equivalent to around 0.3 pct of GDP, the ECB said.
The ECB said surpluses in goods and services trade and in the income account once again outweighed a large deficit on current transfers in November.
The goods surplus declined to 4.8 bln eur from 8.5 bln, but the services surplus widened to 3.2 bln eur from 2.7 bln.
The surplus in the income account fell to just 0.2 bln eur from 2.3 bln the month before. The income account covers investment income flows and wages paid to workers by employers based in a different economy.
Meanwhile, the deficit on current transfers eased to 7.5 bln eur from 10.4 bln. Current transfers cover transfers between governments and workers remittances.
In unadjusted terms the current account was 1.0 bln eur in surplus in November after an October surplus of 3.9 bln.
Meanwhile, in the financial account, there was a combined net inflow of 21.2 bln eur in direct and portfolio investment in November compared with a net outflow of 34.9 bln in October.
There was a marked turnaround in portfolio investment, with a net inflow of 10.2 bln eur in November following an outflow of 56.1 bln in October.
This was mainly the result of an inflow of 25.3 bln eur in debt instruments following an outflow of 49.1 bln the month before. Equity investment outflows increased to 15.1 bln eur from 7.0 bln.
Meanwhile, direct investment inflows declined to 11.0 bln eur from 21.3 bln.
Over the year to November, inflows in direct and portfolio investment totalled 145.3 bln eur. steve.whitehouse@thomson.com sw/vlb COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2007. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Financial News. MMMM
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