21.   Bautista said Philippine producers will need to work to reduce their expenditures for imported materials.

22.   Because of the baht depreciation, Adirek said, the company expects that buying Thai parts will be cheaper than using imported materials.

23.   Businesses defend their move to raise prices by pointing out to the burdensome operating cost due to the increase in the price of imported materials.

24.   Even the costs of construction of new buildings will rise because of higher labor wages and that of imported materials.

25.   Export processing zones offer lower tariffs on imported manufacuring materials and other incentives to help exports.

26.   For exporting industries, those with high domestic procurement ratios have suffered less or benefitted while those that depend on imported materials have inevitably suffered.

27.   Furthermore, the rising bill for imported materials is only partially recouped through modestly higher sales prices.

28.   He explained that even goods which are locally produced are not spared from the peso fall since most of these are made of imported materials.

29.   He mentions that the lower pre-tax profit was due partly to lower selling prices amid stiff competition and higher cost of imported materials following the depreciation of the ringgit..

30.   He, however, assured that not many products used imported materials and that most Malaysian goods were affordably priced.