Factory production jumped 31 percent in April from a year ago, the fastest rate this year, on strong consumer demand and higher infrastructure spending, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority show.
Preliminary results of the Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected Industries showed the increase in the volume of production index was a significant upturn from a nearly flat growth of 0.1 percent a year ago. It was also faster than the 16.5-percent increase in March, 22.4 percent in February and 17.2 percent in January.
The National Economic and Development Authority said strong consumer demand and weaker exchange rate encouraged manufacturers to produce more this year.
Printing posted the fastest growth of 182.8 percent, followed by petroleum products (79.2 percent), miscellaneous manufactures (34.5 percent), machinery except electrical (34 percent), textiles (32.1 percent), beverages (31.7 percent), food manufacturing (31.4 percent), electrical machinery (26.8 percent), non-metallic mineral products (24.6 percent), chemical products (23.4 percent), leather products (22.2 percent) and rubber and plastic products (21 percent).
The value of production index also climbed 31.7 percent in April, from a decline of 1.6 percent in the same month of 2017.
“A bullish business outlook is expected for the entire second quarter on the back of robust economic growth. An expansion of businesses will also be facilitated thanks to the new law on ease of doing business,” Neda Undersecretary Jose Miguel dela Rosa said in a statement.
“The full implementation of the Ease of Doing Business Act of 2018 and engagement in massive and coordinated capacity-building initiatives will help the manufacturing sector grow further,” he said.
Dela Rosa said that higher government spending on infrastructure in the months leading to April helped sustain growth in construction-related manufactures, which continued its upward trend given higher demand for non-metallic mineral products, particularly cement.
The Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Law is seen to streamline procedures, shorten the processing time for government transactions and create a central business portal to receive and obtain data involving business-related transactions.