The Philippines’ deficit in the trade of goods for a month narrowed by 13.5 percent to $3.3 billion in October from $3.82 billion in the same month of 2021, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.
However, preliminary data show that the trade deficit for January-October ballooned by 54 percent to $49.98 billion from $32.4 billion in the same 10 months of last year.
Two-way traffic of goods in October was valued at $18.9 billion, an increase of 12 percent from $16.6 billion a year earlier.
In October, export receipts surged by 20 percent to $7.7 billion from $6.4 billion, 10 times as fast as the 2-percent growth recorded last year.
Meanwhile, imports grew by 7.5 percent to $11 billion from $10.4 billion, just a third as fast as the 23-percent jump in October 2021.