RP exports rose 9% in 2002

RP exports rose 9% in 2002 JP/16/Money

MANILA: Philippine merchandise exports rose by a better than expected 9.0 percent from a year earlier in 2002, figures released by the National Statistics Office showed Tuesday.

January-December export receipts rose to US$35.061 billion compared to $32.15 billion in 2001, the government agency said in a statement.

The result was slightly above the full-year target of between five and eight percent growth.

It was a turnaround from the 15.6 percent plunge in exports in 2001.

Full-year import figures were not immediately available.

For the month of December, export earnings rose 10.0 percent from a year earlier to $2.909 billion.

The government said the key electronics sector saw export receipts rising 11.7 percent in December to $1.083 billion, accounting for 37.2 percent of export revenues for the month.

Garments exports rose 14.3 percent to $250.85 million, accounting for 8.6 percent of the total.

Coconut oil shipments surged 39.5 percent to $42.14 million -- AFP

U.S. manufacturing growing slowly

WASHINGTON: U.S. manufacturing activity grew in January for a third straight month, according to a closely watched survey released Monday, in what analysts said was a sign the economy is limping ahead.

The Institute for Supply Management overall index of business activity fell to 53.9 from a 55.2 in December. Any figure over 50 indicates expanding activity.

The reading was better than Wall Street forecasts, which called for an ISM index of 53.0. This is the third straight month the index has been above 50.

Late last month, the ISM index was revised to 55.2 based on new seasonal adjustment factors, up from the initial estimate of 54.7.

"Overall, the signs are still positive for the first quarter," said Norbert Ore, chair of the ISM manufacturing business survey committee.

Ore said the ISM index shows a "no-growth scenario -- if there was any growth it was slight, if there was any decline it was slight." -- AFP

S'pore visitor arrivals up 0.6%

SINGAPORE: About 7.6 million travelers visited Singapore in 2002, 0.6 percent more than a year ago, thanks to more arrivals from China and India, the Singapore Tourism Board said Tuesday.

The number of visitor arrivals into Singapore last year was the second highest since records began, the tourism board said.

Visitors from the two densely populated countries helped offset fewer arrivals from Taiwan, Malaysia and the U.S. - areas where cheaper domestic, short-haul travel had grown more popular, the board added.

While "aggressive promotions, as well as a significant increase in air services between Singapore and China" helped China visitor arrivals grow some 34.7 percent in 2002, visa restrictions by the U.K. and U.S. had diverted Indian tourists to Singapore, it said.

There were 10.5 percent more arrivals from India in 2002. On the other hand, visitors from Taiwan, Malaysia and the U.S. fell 5.8 percent, 5.2 percent and 4.7 percent, respectively.

Overall, holiday arrivals from Singapore's top 12 markets - including the top market Indonesia - grew 3.8 percent in 2002, but business-related traffic fell 1.0 percent in the period, the tourism board said. -- Dow Jones

214,000 Japanese file for bankruptcy

TOKYO: A record 214,000 Japanese individuals filed for bankruptcy last year as the nation continued to struggle with its now chronic economic slump, Japan's top court said Tuesday.

A total of 214,634 Japanese filed for bankruptcy at Japanese courts nationwide in 2002, up 33.8 percent from 160,457 the previous year, Supreme Court spokesman Isao Umezawa said.

Individual bankruptcies in Japan have been on the rise amid increasing corporate failures, restructuring and pay cuts.

Japan's unemployment rate remains at record high levels, and a government study late last year showed about half of the unemployed had no income.

Separately, 13,495 other Japanese filed for court protection under a new insolvency law introduced in April, 2001, aimed at reducing repayment burdens for those with stable income and debt smaller than 30 million yen (US$249,000), the Supreme Court said.

Individual bankruptcies accounted to 95 percent of all the bankruptcies filed last year, he said.

Corporate insolvencies totaled 19,458 in 2002, up 0.1 percent from the year before for the second-highest figure in the postwar period, the private credit agency Teikoku Data Bank said last month. -- AP

FTA to cost U.S. Treasury $913m

WASHINGTON: A pair of new free-trade agreements with Chile and Singapore will cost the U.S. government an estimated US$913 million in lost revenue during their first 10 years, the White House said on Monday.

In its annual budget recommendations to Congress, the Bush administration estimated the cost of phasing out tariffs and lowering other trade barriers under the two agreements would be $25 million in budget year 2004.

The annual cost to the U.S. treasury would increase gradually to $134 million in 2013 as duties on more import sensitive items are phased out, the administration said.

The Bush administration formally notified Congress last week of its intention to sign the two agreements in early spring. Lawmakers are expected to vote on both agreements later this year. -- Reuters