Posted on 12 May 2009
The Industrial Production Index (IPI) for March declined by 14.4% compared with the same month last year, following a 14.6% (revised) year- on-year decline in February 2009.
The drop in March was due to decreases in the manufacturing (19.6%), mining (3.2%) and electricity (8.9%) indices, the Statistics Department said in a statement yesterday.
On a monthly basis, the IPI was, however, up by 6.2%, it said, adding that the cumulative index for the first quarter of 2009 was down 16.3% as against the same period last year.
According to the department, the manufacturing output in March 2009 was lower by 19.6% compared with the same month last year.
The February 2009 output went down by 18.5% (revised) as against the same month of 2008.
Compared with the preceding month, the March 2009 output increased by 4.1%.
Growth for the first three months of 2009 dropped by 21.6% as compared with the same period of last year, the department said.
The contraction of the manufacturing output was due to decreases in the groups of electrical and electronics products (36.9%); wood products, furniture, paper products and printing (25.1%); and petroleum, chemical, rubber and plastic products (10.4%).
The mining sector output fell 3.2% in March 2009 as compared with the same month last year.
This, it said, was due to the decreases in the indices of crude oil (4.5%) and a marginal increase of natural gas (0.1%).
