MANILA, Philippines – The country’s manufacturing output likely rose above six percent in March after two consecutive months of slower growth rates, research firm Moody’s Analytics said.
“Industrial production growth slowed sharply in January and February, all but confirming that the double-digit increases seen in 2013 have finished,” Moody’s Analytics said in a report.
The expected growth rate in March is faster than the 1.2- percent growth recorded in February and the five-percent expansion in January.
“Export demand for goods from the Philippines remains firm, but domestic spending has eased in recent months. The government’s infrastructure plans may have lost a little steam,” the research firm said.
Official factory output data will be released by the Philippine Statistics Authority on May 8.
The country has seen its manufacturing output accelerate through the second half of last year before slowing down in January.
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The PSA last month said the slowdown in the production growth of furniture and fixtures, and tobacco products pulled down the factory sector’s volume of production index in February.
Meanwhile, expansion was observed in the following sectors: machinery except electrical, publishing and printing, fabricated metal products, textiles, wood and wood
products, paper and paper products, and leather products.
The statistics agency also noted the VoPI went down by 2.5 percent month-on-month on February, primarily due to a decline in the production of petroleum products and wood and wood products.
The PSA also reported the value of production index (VaPI) grew 0.9 percent in February from the same period a year ago. This was, again, slower than the revised 4.3 percent increase in January.
The February VaPI was driven by increases in the following sectors: tobacco products, furniture and fixtures, machinery except electrical, publishing and printing, textiles, fabricated metal products, wood and wood products, leather products, paper and paper products, and electrical machinery.
