Illustrative image (Source: images.businessweek.com)The Philippines saw its trade revenue in November 2016 increasing 7.3 percent year-on-year due to the strong growth of imports, said the National Economy and Development Authority (NEDA).
Total trade of the Southeast Asian country reached 12 billion USD in the month, with imports going up by 19.7 percent, making up for a decrease of 7.5 percent in exports, according to the NEDA.
A surge in trade transactions between the Philippines with East Asian and ASEAN countries boosted the country’s IMPORTS. This is a sign of strengthening purchasing power of Filipinos. The NEDA forecasts that trade volume would increase further in December 2016.
IMPORTS of the Philippines hit 7.3 billion USD in November last year driven by rising demand for capital goods, consumer goods and raw materials soared. Meanwhile, export earnings dropped to 4.7 billion USD because of a 10 percent decrease in shipment value of manufactured goods, mainly electronics.
However, another report of the NEDA showed that manufacturing production of the Philippines was stable in November 2016 due to the rise of oil output, transport EQUIPMENTand food products./.