The country’s trade deficit narrowed in August as imports grew at a slower pace than exports, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported.
Data from the PSA showed that the trade balance—the difference between exports and imports—fell to a 6.6-percent deficit of $4.38 billion, from an 18.2-percent gap of $4.87 billion in July.
However, August’s decrease is significantly lower than the 31.5 percent recorded in the same month last year.
The country's total exports showed a modest 0.3-percent increase in the month to $6.75 billion, from $6.73 billion a year earlier.
Other manufactured goods led export growth with a $191.75 million increase, followed by copper concentrates, and machinery and transport equipment.
From January to August, exports increased by 2.3 percent compared to the first eight months of 2023.
Electronic products remained the top export for the Philippines, accounting for $3.57 billion or over half of the total export sales in August.
Manufactured goods still dominated the exports, followed by mineral and agro-based products.
The United States continued to be the country’s buyer of Filipino-made products, followed by all Asian countries which were Hong Kong, Japan, China, and South Korea.
Eighty-three point six percent of total exports went to Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) countries, with East Asia being the largest regional market.
Meanwhile, the country’s total imports only increased by 2.7 percent percent to $11.117 billion from $10.83 billion in the same month last year.
This slight year-on-year rise in import growth is driven by increased demand for electronic products, followed by transport equipment and plastics.
Raw materials and intermediate goods made up the largest portion of the country’s imports, followed by capital goods and consumer goods.
From January to August 2024, the country’s total import value fell by 0.5 percent to $83.70 billion, down from $84.17 billion a year earlier.
As was in July, China remained to be the Philippines' largest source of imports, followed by Indonesia, South Korea, Japan, and the United States.
Michael Ricafort, chief economist at Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) said that exports and imports in the country showed modest year-on-year growth, contributing to the narrowest trade deficit in two months, though it remains among the widest in nine months.
“These may be attributed to the recent typhoons/storms/flooding that caused some disruptions,” Ricafort explained.
“Also the holiday/vacation season in the U.S./Northern Hemisphere in August 2024 that also slowed down transactions on global trade,” the economist added. (Derco Rosal)