By Francisco Alcuaz Jr.
Jan. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Philippine exports fell for a second consecutive month in November as the global recession damped demand for disk drives and mobile-phone chips made by Intel Corp. and other manufacturers in the country.
Overseas sales dropped 11.9 percent to $3.49 billion from a year earlier, the National Statistics Office said in Manila today. The median estimate of eight economists in a Bloomberg News survey was for a 16.6 percent decline. Exports slumped 14.8 percent in October, the biggest drop in seven years.
Philippines stocks and the peso fell on concern the decline in exports will hurt growth in the Southeast Asian economy, forecast to expand in 2009 at the slowest pace in eight years by President Gloria Arroyo’s government. The global slowdown may also hurt remittances from the nation’s overseas workers.
“We’re just beginning to feel the downdraft,” said Song Seng Wun, an economist at CIMB GK Securities Ltd. in Singapore. “The contraction will probably continue well into 2009. As demand slumps, we can only guess about the size of the impact” on exports and overseas jobs.
The Philippine peso declined a fourth day against the U.S. dollar, losing 0.4 percent to 47.725 as of 9:25 a.m. in Manila, according to Tullett Prebon Plc.
Philippine merchandise exports may fall as much as 3 percent in 2009 and electronics shipments may contract 10 percent, BusinessWorld newspaper cited the Export Development Council as saying last week.
Accelerate Spending
Arroyo plans to accelerate spending of this year’s infrastructure budget in the first half to limit the effects of the global slump, Economic Planning Secretary Ralph Recto said Jan. 7.
The central bank cut its key interest rate for the first time in 11 months in December to spur growth, and Governor Amando Tetangco said last week slowing inflation gives policy makers “additional room to find opportunities for monetary easing this year.”
Shipments of electronics products fell 17 percent to $2.02 billion in November. Worldwide semiconductor sales fell 9.8 percent that month from a year earlier, according to the San Jose, California-based Semiconductor Industry Association.
Sales of clothing by manufacturers supplying The Gap Inc. and Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. declined 16 percent to $133 million.
Exports to the U.S., the Philippines’ biggest overseas market, dropped 19 percent to $609 million. Shipments to Japan, the No. 2 destination, fell 3.8 percent to $573 million. Exports to China declined 27 percent.
To contact the reporter on this story: Francisco Alcuaz Jr. in Manila at falcuaz@bloomberg.net
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