Philippine trade deficit narrows to $4.773B in April

The Philippine trade deficit narrowed in April as imports grew at a double-digit basis, faster than the growth recorded in the country’s exports during the month.

Data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on Wednesday showed that the balance of trade in goods (BoT-G) recorded a $4.773-billion deficit — lower than the $5.007-billion deficit in March but higher than the $3.097-billion deficit in April 2021.

Total imported goods for the month amounted to $10.90 billion, reflecting an annual growth rate of 22.8% from April 2021’s $8.878 billion.

Broken down, the fastest growth was seen in mineral fuels, lubricants, and related materials, which increased by 133.5%. This was followed by transport equipment up 44.2%, and cereals and cereal preparations up 39.3%.

Increases were also seen in iron and steel, plastics, other food and live animals, electronic products, and telecommunication equipment and electrical machinery.

Declines were recorded in industrial machinery and equipment, and in miscellaneous manufactured articles.

Total export sales in April stood at $6.128 billion, marking an annual growth rate of 6.0% from $5.780 billion the same month last year.

The biggest increase was recorded in coconut oil exports which climbed by 156.6%, followed by gold up 53.0%, and other mineral products up by 51.0%.

Growth was also seen in imports of other mineral products, cathodes, fresh bananas, chemicals, and electronic products.

Contractions were seen in ignition wiring sets, other manufactured goods, and machinery and transport equipment.

China accounted for the biggest export value worth $971.74 million or 15.9% of the total, and was the biggest supplier of imported goods worth $2.27 billion or 20.8% of the total for the month.

Total external trade in goods increased by 16.2% to $17.030 billion in April, lower than the $19.357 billion in March but higher than the $14.658 billion in April 2021.  —KBK, GMA News