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The country’s trade-in-goods deficit in May narrowed as exports and imports fell after a month of expansion.
Preliminary data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed the trade-in-goods balance — the difference between exports and imports — amounted to a $4.60 billion deficit in May, narrowing from the $4.73-billion shortfall recorded in the previous month, but still wider than the $4.40 deficit in May last year.
This was the narrowest trade gap since the previous month.
READ: April trade deficit widens to $4.76 billion — PSA
Total sales of Philippine-made goods declined by 3.1 percent year on year to $6.33 billion in May, a reversal from the revised 27.9 percent growth in April and the 2.7 percent seen in the same period last year.
By value, export receipt in May was the lowest since April.
Likewise, the country’s merchandise imports fell by 0.03 percent year on year to $10.93 billion in May. This was a reversal from the previous month’s 13 percent growth. The contraction, however, was still lower than 8 percent decline in May 2023
Import bill in May was the lowest level in two months or since the $9.57 billion in March.
The Development Budget Coordination Committee projects 5 percent and 2 percent growth in exports and imports, respectively, for this year.