The Philippines’ trade deficit swelled 93 percent in August from a year earlier as exports continued to decline while imports surged, government data showed on Tuesday. “The balance of trade in goods (BOT-G) for the Philippines in August 2016 registered a deficit of $2.023 billion, higher than the $1.048 billion trade deficit in the same month last year,” the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said in a statement released with the trade data. Export sales in the month fell 4.4 percent year-on-year to $4.904 billion from $5.128 billion, while total imports rose 12.2 percent to $6.927 billion from $6.176 billion. The trade gap in August, however, was narrower than the $2.058 billion deficit recorded in July this year.

Source: Manila Times October 11, 2016 05:48 UTC