Sept trade gap narrows to $3.12B
Credit to Author: Anna Leah E. Gonzales| Date: Wed, 06 Nov 2019 16:37:42 +0000
THE country’s trade deficit shrank year-on-year in September as both exports and imports fell, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported on Wednesday.
Data from the statistics agency showed that the September deficit hit $3.12 billion, compared with $4.02 billion a year earlier and $2.6 billion in August this year.
After five consecutive months of growth, sales of outbound shipments fell by 2.6 percent to $5.90 billion from $6.05 billion a year ago.
The contraction was attributed to the decline in export sales of metal components (-25.8 percent); articles of apparel and clothing accessories (-20.7 percent); machinery and transport equipment (-20.0 percent); miscellaneous manufactured articles (-8.1 percent); ignition wiring sets used in vehicles, aircraft and ships (-7.0 percent); other manufactured goods (-6.3 percent); and gold (-1.8 percent).
Total value of imported goods also dropped by 10.5 percent to $9.02 billion from $10.08 billion last year.
Decrements were reported in commodities such as iron and steel; cereals and cereal preparation; mineral fuels; lubricants and related materials; plastics in primary and non-primary forms; transport equipment; electronic products; and industrial machinery and equipment.
Total external trade in goods reached $14.92 billion, down 7.5 percent from $16.13 billion last year.
A Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) analyst said the decline in export and import sales could be blamed on the drawn-out trade war between the United States and China.
“Third-quarter trade performance indicates that export and import sales have tracked each other,” UnionBank chief economist Ruben Carlo Asuncion said in a report.
“This highly suggests that Philippine trade continues to be impacted by the protracted US-China trade conflict, and import performance…has not picked up yet with the government’s supposed spending catch-up,” he added.
Despite this, the economist also said exports and imports were expected to recover in the fourth quarter on positive developments in the trade discussions between Washington and Beijing and on the government’s efforts to catch up on spending.
In a separate statement, the National Economic and Development Authority said the government’s infrastructure spending would help improve the country’s trade growth.
“The push for high-impact and implementable infrastructure peojects under the “Build, Build, Build” program is expected to improve transport and logistics, which are crucial in supporting the growth of exports,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia said.
He cited the importance of passing the proposed 2020 national budget on time to sustain the implementation of construction-related projects.