THE growth in consumer spending in the last quarter of the year will also boost the Philippines’s manufacturing output, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda).
Based on the Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected Industries (Missi), the country’s manufacturing output declined by 1.1 percent in July 2017, from a growth of 6.8 percent in the previous month and 12.1 percent last year.
“We expect higher manufacturing outputs in the coming months as we expect an increase in consumer demand during the [Christmas] holidays, translating to higher production in volume and sales,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia said.
Pernia said the strong macroeconomic fundamentals, acceleration of infrastructure development projects and increased investment will further provide additional support to manufacturing growth.
He said, however, there is a need to expand existing manufacturing enterprises and attract foreign and local investments in the countryside to sustain manufacturing growth.
“We need to expand our production capacity to take advantage of strong domestic demand and benefits from free-trade agreements. In line with this, efforts must be given to accelerate the implementation of infrastructure projects and enhance the quality and cost-effectiveness of manufacturing-related services to ensure sustained growth,” Pernia said.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said the average capacity-utilization rate in July 2017 for the manufacturing sector was recorded at 83.7 percent.
The PSA said 60 percent, or 12, of the 20 major industries operated at 80 percent and above capacity-utilization rates.
“The proportion of establishments that operated at full capacity [90 percent to 100 percent] was recorded at almost one-fourth of the total number of establishments [24.8 percent] in July 2017,” the PSA said.
“About 55.3 percent of the total establishments operated at 70-percent to 89-percent capacity while almost one-fifth of the total establishments [19.9 percent] operated below 70-percent capacity,” it added.
Missi is a report that monitors the production, net sales, inventories and capacity utilization of selected manufacturing establishments to provide flash indicators on the performance of the manufacturing sector.