The Philippines’ shipments of electronics, its dominant export, could still grow by 25 to 30 percent this year but there were signs of softer demand due to faltering global growth, the head of an industry group said on Tuesday.
The country exported $2.55 billion of electronics in May, up 41 percent from a year earlier and accounting for 60.3 percent of total exports for the month, data showed.
The Philippine may refrain from raising borrowing costs tomorrow as slowing inflation gives policy makers room to support growth amid concern Europe’s debt crisis will hurt the global economy.
The Philippines has fallen behind Malaysia, India, Taiwan and South Korea in raising interest rates as Asia’s policy makers balance the need to sustain the region’s economic recovery against the threats of inflation and asset bubbles. President Benigno Aquino, who took office June 30, plans to boost growth to as much as 8 percent in 2011 to reduce poverty.
Indophil Resources NL, owner of a third of a $5.2 billion copper project in the Philippines, fell the most in more than eight years in Sydney trading after a local government in the Asian nation banned open-pit mining.
Indophil shares fell 44 percent to 61 cents at 1:05 p.m. Sydney time on the Australian stock exchange. That’s the most since May 6, 2002. After first reports of the ban, the stock was halted June 11, two weeks before Zijin Mining Group Co. dropped a A$545 million ($482 million), or A$1.28 a share, takeover.
