MANILA, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- The major Philippine economic indicators showed continued momentum of growth in June, with the total external trade in goods rising by 16.1 percent and the manufacturing production index growing steadily, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said on Tuesday.
The total external trade in goods reached up to 19.13 billion U.S. dollars in June, of which 65.3 percent were imported goods, while the rest were exported goods, the statistics agency said.
China remains the biggest supplier of imported goods. The agency said exports to China amounted to a share of 13.1 percent, while the imports from China reached 20.4 percent of the total.
The PSA said the balance of trade in goods recorded a trade deficit of 5.84 billion dollars with an annual increase of 75.4 percent.
The performance of manufacturing production in the country also sustained its growth momentum in June.
Based on the preliminary results of a monthly survey, the PSA said the year-on-year value of production index (VaPI) and the volume of production index (VoPI) increased 9.8 percent and 2.4 percent, respectively.
The PSA attributed the VaPI surge to the expansion in the production of 16 industry divisions led by the manufacture of machinery and equipment except electrical with an annual growth of 51.8 percent. On the other hand, six industry divisions showed downturns in their production, with printing and reproduction of recorded media registering the fastest annual decline of 25.1 percent.
The VoPI's annual expansion rate at 2.4 percent in June is faster than the 0.9 percent increase recorded in the previous month, but much slower than the 448.2 percent growth in June 2021.
The PSA attributed the upturn in the VoPI to the positive growth rates in 13 industry divisions led by the manufacture of machinery and equipment except electrical, which grew by 45.3 percent. On the contrary, nine industry divisions recorded annual decreases led by the printing and reproduction of recorded media, which declined by 21.5 percent. ■