Trade deficit likely up in October
Credit to Author: Anna Leah E. Gonzales| Date: Mon, 09 Dec 2019 16:17:38 +0000
The government’s ramped up spending on infrastructure likely led to a widening of the country’s trade deficit, HSBC Global Research said on Monday.
“We expect the trade deficit to widen to $3.6 billion in October as the government picks up infrastructure spending towards year-end,” said HSBC Global Research in a report.
The country’s trade deficit hit $3.12 billion in September.
Exports decreased by 2.6 percent from $5.90 billion to $6.05 billion a year ago while imports went down by 10.5 percent to $9.02 billion from $10.08 billion.
Official October exports and imports data will be released by the Phiilippine Statistics Authority on December 10.
In October last year, the country’s trade deficit was recorded at $4.21 billion. Exports grew by 3.3 percent while imports went up by 21.4 percent.
“Imports likely declined on a year-on-year basis due to a high base from the previous year, but should still rise in month-on-month terms. Lower exports are also likely to exacerbate the trade deficit,” the report said.
“Exports of electronic products, which comprise about half of all Philippine exports, continue to rise but shipments of other goods remain in decline. We expect the trade deficit to widen in 2020 given the recent passage of the 2020 budget and an extension of the 2019 budget, providing the government with additional funds to spend in the year ahead,” it added.