Philippine August trade deficit widens to $6B

The Philippines’ deficit in the trade of goods widened yet again to a new record, continuing to balloon at 81 percent year-on-year in August, with the import bill exceeding export earnings by $6 billion.

Preliminary data at the Philippine Statistics Authority show that two-way traffic of goods in August was valued at $18.82 billion, an increase of 15 percent from $16.39 billion in the same month of 2021.

In August, export receipts decreased by 2 percent to $6.41 billion, slower than the 4-percent decrease in July and a reversal from a 18.9-percent jump in August 2021.

Imports surged by 26 percent to $12.41 billion, slowing down from a growth rate of 22.2 percent in July and 28.3 percent in August last year.