CENTRAL Visayas’ trade-reliant economy is a huge buyer of goods in the country.
The region posted a P51.02 billion inflow of goods in the third quarter of 2019, the highest in the country, latest figures from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed.
Region 7 accounted for 24.9 percent of the country’s total domestic trade inflow value.
However, it also saw the highest trade imbalance of P42.02 billion during the period, showing that the southern economic hub remained a net buyer of goods, while it was trading out less.
National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) 7 Director Efren Carreon said the inflow rise could be attributed to the holiday demand during that period.
“To me, this shows the robust domestic consumption of our economy,” he told SunStar Cebu Friday, Jan. 10, 2020.
“This shows that businesses expected demand to rise in anticipation of the Christmas holidays,” the Neda official said.
The region’s strong buying activity is a boon, Carreon said.
“In a way this also indicates people’s increasing capacity to spend on domestic goods,” he said.
During the period, goods that moved out from the region also hit P16.635 billion, translating to 334,678 tons of products.
The value was up 154.6 percent from P6.535 billion in the comparable period in 2018. In terms of quantity, it also rose 296.9 percent from 84,323 tons recorded in 2018.
Nationwide, food and live animals were the most traded goods in terms of quantity, with 1.19 million tons or 23.4 percent share of the total. They were followed by mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials and manufactured goods.
Machinery and transport equipment led in terms of value of traded commodities with P62.15 billion or 30.4 percent share of the total.
The domestic trade data are based on commodities traded by air and water in the country.