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MANILA, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) – The performance of manufacturing production in the Philippines declined further in July 2020 amid a prolonged lockdown from coronavirus disease that led to factory closings and movement restrictions, the Authority said on Friday. of Statistics of the Philippines (PSA).
The PSA said that the year-on-year value of the production index (VaPI) and the production volume index (VoPI) remain on a downward trend, declining 14.8 percent and 11.9 percent in July 2020. , respectively.
“The contraction of VaPI in July 2020 was the fifth consecutive month that it exhibited an annual decrease,” the PSA said in a statement.
VaPI in June decreased 16 percent year-on-year.
The PSA added that the VoPI for the manufacturing sector in July 2020 also contracted at a slower rate of 11.9 percent in July 2020 compared to the 12.5 percent decline in June 2020.
While manufacturing is not yet in positive territory, the Philippines’ Acting Secretary for Socio-Economic Planning Karl Kendrick Chua said that production volume and value trends over the past three months indicate an improvement in the trajectory of activity. economical.
“This momentum suggests a gradual recovery in demand in the coming months through the end of the year,” Chua said in a separate statement.
Despite signs of recovery, Chua still sees the country’s manufacturing performance to remain subdued in the short term, as companies expect the pandemic to have a prolonged impact on production.
“Maintaining the gradual and calibrated opening of the economy depends largely on the level of community quarantine that would allow companies to operate and allow workers to stay on the move,” Chua added. Final product
