THE country’s export weakness is expected to end in the second quarter of the year, an international banking giant said in its recent country assessment.
In a research note, JPMorgan said it expects the country’s exports to show some “positive payback” in the months of April to June this year—which would make up for the lower-than-expected export growth in recent months.
In particular, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) recently reported that the country’s exports declined for a third straight month in February this year by about 3.1 percent.
This was due to the decline in six major commodities, out of the top 10 commodities for the month—woodcraft and furniture; other mineral products; metal components; electronic equipment and parts; other manufactures; and machinery and transport equipment.
The slowdown was blamed on the overall decline in the demand for exports in the region.
“The majority of the major economies in East and Southeast Asia registered negative export performance in February 2015, with only PR [People’s Republic of] China in the positive territory. This partly mirrors the still-fragile global economy, which is particularly reflected in the country’s weak turnout of merchandise exports on the back of lower demand from the country’s major trade partners—Japan and China,” Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said.
Balisacan’s explanation was backed up by JPMorgan, saying that the underlying trend of exports in the region weakened across the board.
The anticipated pickup in exports in the second quarter of the year will likely be brought by the high demand for electronics during the period.