PHL trade gap narrows to $1.65B in July

The Philippine balance of trade in goods (BOT-G) continued to register a deficit in July —albeit narrower than in previous months—as imports continued to outpace exports, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Tuesday.

"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 percent 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 mounted to $5.28 billion, up 10.4 percent 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.

These include machinery and transport, electronic equipment and parts, metal components, wiring sets, electronic products, and other mineral products.

In an emailed statement, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia said the latest figures fall in line with the regional trade performance.

"Our country's trade performance is consistent with the Asian trade growth. We are optimistic that higher growth will be achieved for the remaining months of the year," he said.

Pernia noted that member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) recently agreed to prioritize trade in goods.

"For the region, this means a chance to double intra-ASEAN trade by 2025. For the Philippines, this means strengthened economic ties with our neighbors and a chance to deepen our partnerships," he added.

The 16 trading partners of the proposed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreed to set "more realistic" trade offers for the free trade agreement to move forward.

RCEP is a free trade agreement among ASEAN members—Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, And Vietnam—and their dialogue partners Australia, China, India, Japan, Republic of Korea, and New Zealand.

"The partnership may facilitate more exchange of goods and services, attract investments, create more jobs, and improve the standard of living," Pernia said. — Jon Viktor Cabuenas/VDS, GMA News