FACTORY output — both in volume and value terms — rebounded January, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Tuesday, raising expectations of sustained growth for the rest of the year. A month earlier, VoPI declined by 9.2 percent and VaPI was also down by 9.8 percent. January of last year, meanwhile, saw lower VoPI and VaPI gains of 14.9 percent and 13.7 percent, respectively. Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia, in a statement, traced the growth to petroleum, construction-related goods, some export-oriented products and food manufacturing. “Manufacturing output is expected to sustain growth in 2018 on the back of robust consumer demand, higher government consumption and continued gains in investments,” he said.

Source: Manila Times March 06, 2018 17:03 UTC