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By Darwin G.
Amojelar, Reporter
PHILIPPINE
exports in January rose at their fastest pace in more than seven
years after electronics product shipments rebounded from a slump in
December.
The National
Statistics Office (NSO) said exports grew 27.3 to $4.17 billion from
$3.272 billion in January last year.
Electronic
exports, accounting for 58.5 percent, went up by 14.5 percent to
$2.438 billion from $2.13 billion in the same period last year.
This was a
reversal from the 12.1 percent slump in electronics shipments last
December.
“This is the
highest single-month increase since September 1999, coming from a
decline the previous month,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary
Romulo L. Neri said.
The government
expects the export sector to grow 11 percent this year, slightly
slower than last year’s 14 percent expansion.
The NSO also
attributed the increase in exports to the higher shipments of
cathodes and section of cathodes of refined copper and woodcrafts
and furniture.
Articles of
apparel and clothing accessories were the second top seller abroad
with total receipts of $203.46 million or 3.9 percent lower than
$211.80 million a year ago.
Cathodes and
sections of cathodes of refined copper, ranked third with total
revenue of $124.01 million.
Rounding up
the list of the top exports for the month were woodcrafts and
furniture, $75.40 million; petroleum products, $67.43 million;
materials imported on consignment basis, $62.05 million; ignition
wiring set and other wiring sets used in vehicles, aircrafts and
ships, $62.03 million; metal components, $34.24 million; bananas,
$27.82 million; and coconut oil, $20.22 million.
Philippine
share prices closed 2.36 percent higher Friday, supported by strong
export figures for January and the overnight gains on Wall Street,
dealers said.
The composite
index added 71.45 points to 3,099.82 after trading between 3,028.37
and 3,112.10. The broader all-share index rose 40.04 points to
1,991.
Advancers led
decliners 102 to 19, with 35 stocks unchanged.
Volume was
6.08 billion shares worth P4.53 billion.
“The
encouraging economic figures provided some encouragement amid the
continued volatility,” said Lawrence de Leon of Accord Capital
Equities.
“But we’re
not sure if we can sustain these gains. We might see more choppy
movements next week because, to a certain extent, the performance of
overseas markets will continue to have an impact on us,” de Leon
said.
Top-traded
Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. advanced P60 to P2,360.
Megaworld
jumped 25 centavos to P3.
Bank of the
Philippine Islands was up P1.50 at P65.50.
San Miguel A
shares fell 50 centavos to P62 but its B shares rose P1.50 to
P71.50.
 --AFP
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