The Philippines› purchasing managers index, a gauge of the strength of the manufacturing and service sectors, softened to 50.9 in June from 52.2 in May and 53.8 a year ago, S&P Global said Monday.
Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. chief economist Michael Ricafort said the decline could be attributed to higher interest rates locally and globally amid elevated inflation.
Despite the slowdown, PMI still hovered above 50 for 22 straight months since September 2021.
Ricafort said contributing to the decline was the slowdown in exports which hit three-year lows recently and imports at near two-year lows amid the possibility of a recession in the United States.
He said the aggressive interest rate hikes by the US and other central banks since 2022 to deliberately slow demand and other economic activities also weighed on PMI.