Philippines July trade deficit reaches $3.51b from June’s $3.35b

September 11, 2018

The Philippines' trade deficit rose to $3.51 billion in July from $3.35 billion in the previous month and from a gap of $1.31 billion in the same period last year, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said Tuesday.

Exports grew by 0.3 percent, from $5.83 billion in July 2017 to $5.85 billion in July 2018.

Imports went up to $9.40 billion in July from $7.14 billion in the same month of previous year or an annual growth rate of 31.6 percent.

The rise in exports was due to the increases posted by six out of the top 10 commodities for the month led by exports of miscellaneous manufactured articles (80.2 percent); fresh bananas 60.3 percent; electronic equipment and parts 43.3 percent; other mineral products (33.6 percent); metal components 8.7 percent; and electronic products(5.2 percent).

Total imports amounted to $9.40 billion, up by 31.6 percent from $7.14 billion during the same month in 2017. The increase was due to the growth in nine out of the top 10 major import commodities.

These were  iron and steel (135.5 percent); transport equipment (61.1 percent); miscellaneous manufactured articles (45.4 percent); electronic products (43.2 percent); telecommunication equipment and electrical machinery (37.9 percent); mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials (35.8 percent); cereals and cereal preparations (35.7 percent); plastics in primary and non-primary forms (29.5 percent); and industrial machinery and equipment (17.9 percent). DMS