Feb factory output growth

growth this year because of the country’s strong macroeconomic fundamentals, resilient domestic consumption, and upcoming national elections.

“There is a positive business outlook due to anticipated increases in gross revenues and net income of some of the country’s largest corporations,” said Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Emmanuel Esguerra.

This scenario, he added, increases the availability of jobs while stable prices of commodities, government assistance such as the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program ( 4Ps), and electio n- related spending will also provide an additional boost to domestic consumption.

Meanwhile, NEDA said growth in food production is expected to pick up in the coming months as El Niño is anticipated to weaken and fade away during the second quarter of 2016.

Esguerra, who is also the NEDA director general, said that with low global oil prices, lower production costs would encourage expansion of manufacturing production.

“Thus, to maximize low oil prices, the government must ensure that stable macroeconomic fundamentals are sustained and measures to further reduce the cost of doing business are continually pursued,” he said.

Also, access to high- quality raw materials and reliable energy, logistics and other manufacturing- related services must be available to support robust growth of manufacturing output, he added.

Esguerra also stressed that strategic investments in research and development must be pursued.

The development of new products and services and the improvement of existing ones will enhance the competitiveness of local players in the global market,” he concluded.