Mfg expands at faster pace

Manila, Philippines - Philippine manufacturing in March grew at a faster pace because of increased domestic demand, according to the All-Asian Centre for Enterprise Development (Ascend).

Ascend’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for manufacturing showed expanding economic activity in March with an index of 58.14, up by 4.66 index points from 53.48 in February.

This is the highest index point registered in November 2010. An index above 50 indicates economic expansion and an index below 50 implies a contraction.

 “As compared to last year, the composite PMI for March 2012 registered a significantly faster expansion. Production and new orders registered the biggest increases as compared to the same month last year,” the research note said.

Only two of the 12 manufacturing sectors registered indices below the growth threshold: basic metals and communication and medical equipment.

Of the 327 purchasing/supply managers asked about the performance of their company in March 2012, 58 percent said conditions remained the same from the previous month, 35 percent said conditions improved, and only eight percent said they experienced a decline in their business activities.

The PMI is a so-called “nowcasting” tool designed to estimate economic trends and complement standard economic indicators such as gross domestic product (GDP) that require three to six months to finalize.