Slowing Philippine exports follow weaker US economy

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MANILA, Mar 11 (AFP): Philippine merchandise exports rose a modest 6.4 per cent to 4.24 billion dollars in January from a year earlier, officials said today, with slowing growth reflecting a weaker US economy.
The figure was substantially lower than the 21.4 per cent gain notched-up in December, the National Statistics Office (NSO) said.
It said electronics exports, which accounted for 61.5 per cent of total shipments, rose at just 1.6 per cent to 2.61 billion dollars. This was markedly slower than the 12.3 per cent rise in the previous month.
The growth marked a sharp slowdown from the December figure reflecting weakening demand from the United States amid expectations the world's largest economy may be headed for, if not already in, recession, analysts said.