MANILA: Solid gains by the Philippine manufacturing industry are set to continue through the remainder of the year, but increased investment will be needed to boost production in the long term.
The manufacturing sector is approaching the upper limits of its production capacity, with plants operating at an utilization rate of 84%, according to the World Bank’s “Philippines Monthly Economic Developments” report for September 2016.
Although there was a 10.1% surge in the Volume of Production Index for total manufacturing in July — compared to 0.1% growth for the same month in 2015 — which boosted output and revenue, the World Bank report noted that capacity utilization rates had hardly changed in the past four years.
“Unless businesses actively invest in expanding production capacities, capacity constraints may limit growth prospects in the near future,” the report said.
