Current account deficit widens to record $7.9Bhome/Business/Top Business/Current account deficit widens to record $7.9BThe country’s current account deficit hit an all-time high last year as robust economic activity resulted in a wider trade gap, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said on Friday. “The current account deficit rose to an all-time high of $7.9 billion, about 2 percent of gross national income and 2.4 percent of GDP (gross domestic product),” central bank Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo told reporters in a briefing. “Prior to 2018, the highest current account deficit was recorded in 1997 at $4.4 billion,” Guinigundo noted. BSP Department of Economic Statistics director Redentor Paolo Alegre Jr. attributed the record shortfall to the continued widening of the trade gap. The current account deficit exceeded the BSP’s expectation of a $6.4-billion shortfall for 2018.

Source: Manila Times March 15, 2019 16:18 UTC