Export growth likely to taper off – Barclay

MANILA, Philippines - Growth in the country’s merchandise exports is expected to have contracted in May due to a high base in the same period last year, UK-based investment bank  Barclays said.

 “A high base will mask the sequential improvement in exports,” the bank said in a research note yesterday.

Barclays has forecast a contraction of 0.6 percent in May, from a growth print of 0.8 percent in April.

In May last year, export earnings fell by 0.8 percent year-on-year to $4.891 billion on the back of a decline in the value of shipments of electronic products, and machinery and transport equipment.

Official May exports data will be released by the Philippine Statistics Authority on Thursday, July 10.

Total merchandise exports summed up to $4.544 billion in April, up 0.8 percent from the same month last year. 

This was driven by increases in the shipments of food and beverages; other mineral products; machinery and transport equipment; ignition wiring set and other wiring sets used in vehicles, aircrafts and ships; articles of apparel and clothing accessories; and woodcrafts and furniture.

But the value of electronic products, the country’s top export commodity, went down 2.5 percent to $1.863 billion in April from year-ago levels.

Japan remained as the top market for Philippine exports in April, followed by the United States, China, Singapore and Hong Kong.