MANILA – The
National Economic and Development Authority has called for a speedy
implementation of public works towards the second semester of the year to prop
up demand and help boost the country’s manufacturing growth.
Based on the Philippine Statistics Authority Monthly Integrated Survey of
Selected Industries (MISSI) released on Thursday, the manufacturing sector’s
output continued to remain in the negative territory for July 2019.
The PSA data further showed that Volume of Production Index dropped by 8.1
percent while the Value of Production Index decreased by 7.3 percent in July
2019.
“This is the seventh consecutive month in 2019 that the volume and value indices
are on the decline,” NEDA undersecretary for Policy and Planning and currently
Officer-in-Charge (OIC) Rosemarie G. Edillon said.
The weak performance of construction-related manufactures – including heavily weighted petroleum
products, electrical machinery, non-metallic minerals, and basic metals – accounted for much of the decline in
manufacturing output.
Edillon said that the decline on the construction-related manufactures
reflected the slowdown in government spending on infrastructure since the first
semester of 2019.
“The slowdown on the implementation of infrastructure projects in the first
semester of 2019 contributed to the weak performance of manufacturing sector.
There is a need to accelerate public works spending to prop up demand for
construction-related infrastructure,” she said.
Edillon, who was the OIC while Socioeconomic Planning secretary Ernesto M.
Pernia is on leave, added that to ensure sustained construction activity,
expediting the approval of permits and requirements for construction-related
projects is vital.
“These initiatives are necessary for us to meet our infrastructure targets.
However, this semester might be challenging for construction activities as
unfavorable weather conditions may cause disruptions,” Edillon said.
She also urged the passage of a national quality infrastructure bill, which
highlights the need for uniform product standards, testing protocol and
accessible testing infrastructure to facilitate the access of micro, small and
medium enterprises to global value chains. This must be coupled with
capacity-building programs on product standards and quality assurance.
MISSI is a report that monitors the production, net sales, inventories, and
capacity utilization of selected manufacturing establishments to provide flash
indicators on the performance of the manufacturing sector./PN
