PH trade deficit hit 5-mo widest at $4.76 billion in April

The Philippines’ trade-in-goods deficit in April reached widest through a five-month period as exports and imports bounced back from a month of contraction.

Preliminary data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed the trade-in-goods balance—the difference between exports and imports—amounted to $4.76 billion, widening from the $3.44-billion shortfall recorded in March.

However, this was still lower than the $4.83 deficit in April 2023.

This latest monthly deficit was the widest since the $4.77 billion recorded in November last year.

“This suggests a potential strengthening of the export sector and a rise in domestic demand, which could signal economic recovery,” Robert Dan Roces, economist at Security Bank Corp., said in an e-mail.

Roces said that with the continued weakening of the local currency against the greenback, he sees risks of inflation as more pesos are needed to buy imported goods.

“While cheaper exports could benefit from the peso’s decline, the overall impact may still be unclear given that inflows can support the weak peso as well,” he said.

Roces also said that the further widening of the deficit potentially strains foreign exchange reserves despite growth in exports.

Total sales of Philippine-made goods increased by 26.4 percent year-on-year to $6.22 billion in April, a turnaround from the revised 7.3-percent drop a month earlier and the 20.3-percent decline seen in April last year.By value, export receipts in March reached the highest level in five months or since the $6.23 billion in November last year.

Likewise, the country’s merchandise imports bounced back by 12.6 percent year on year to $10.98 billion in April. This was a turnaround from the 17.7 percent decline in the previous month and the 15 percent fall in April 2023.

The import bill in March, meanwhile, was the highest level in five months or since the $11 billion in November 2023.

In terms of commodity group, electronic products continued to be the country’s top exports amounting to $3.57 billion or 57.4 percent of the country’s total exports in April.