Elevated inflation and higher interest rates resulted in a slower growth of the manufacturing sector in February 2023, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority show.
The PSA said the volume of production index recorded a year-on-year increase of 7.2 percent in February, slower than the 11.2-percent rise in January.
The manufacture of food products contributed 29.7 percent to the downtrend of VoPI in February. Other main drivers to the decline were manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products, -14.2 percent from -6.9 percent; and manufacture of other non-metallic mineral products, -2.7 percent from 17.8 percent.
The value of production index went up 11.1 percent in February, but slower than the 16-percent expansion in January.
“The manufacture of food products contributed 29.9 percent to the downtrend of VaPI for the manufacturing sector in February 2023. Out of the 22 industry divisions for the manufacturing sector, manufacture of food products had the highest weight in the computation of VaPI,” the PSA said.