Philippine Trade Gap Narrows

The Philippine balance of trade in goods continued to register a deficit in July—albeit narrower than in previous months—as imports continued to outpace exports, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported on Tuesday, GMANews reported. “The country’s balance of trade in goods registered a $1.65 billion deficit in 2017, lower than the $2.37 billion in July 2016,” the PSA said. Data released by the PSA showed imports totaled $6.93 billion, or 3.2% lower than the $7.16 billion in the same comparable period. “The decrease was due to the negative performance of five out of the top ten major import commodities for the month,” the PSA said. These include iron and steel, electronic products, plastics in primary and non-primary forms, miscellaneous manufactured articles, and industrial machinery and equipment. Exports amounted to $5.28 billion, up 10.4% from $4.79 billion year-on-year. “This was attributed to the increase in growth of six out of the top ten major commodities for the month,” according to the PSA.