MANILA–The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) eyes exports to grow by double digits next year amid strong peso.

“Exports is one of the things that we are trying to review and try to see on how to fix it, because as you know the prospects of the currency is that it will be stable rather than depreciating which is good,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Cayetano Paderanga said.

Paderanga projected that exports may still grow by double digits next year, but lower than this year’s export target.

The Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC), meanwhile, is targeting a 15-percent growth in exports this year.

He said the peso is likely to be around where it is right now “at least the early part going to the
first half of 2011.”

Currently, the peso stood at around P44 against the US dollar.

“All of the exporters are experiencing the weakening of the dollar also shows that our traditional market (US and Europe) are also not robust as used to be,” Paderanga said.

“What we are concern about is really the market,” he added.

Given this, Paderanga is hoping that the growth will come from the country’s new market.

“There’s an increasing trade with Asian rim, that’s been noticed in the past few years,” he said.

The country’s merchandise exports to Eastern Asia in October accounted for 41.4 percent of the total exports.