Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan (Photo: philstar.com) The Philippines saw a fifth consecutive month of falling exports in August, given recent sluggish growth in large economies across the world.
According to government statistics, 5.13 billion USD was generated from outbound shipments in August, an annual reduction of 6.3 percent.
Export revenue in mining and agriculture fell 48.4 and 37.4 percent respectively during the period, making them major contributors to the overall downturn.
In the past eight months, the country faced a drop of 4.4 percent on year to 39.3 billion USD in export value.
Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said the status quo was not likely to change in the near future, due to shrinking global consumption, low oil prices and the effects of severe weather caused by El Nino on agriculture.
He urged the country to improve its domestic policies, diversify its products and expand its market.
According to Balisacan, all East and Southeast Asian economies aside from Vietnam recorded negative export returns in August.-VNA
