The country’s balance of trade deficit narrowed to $4.821 billion in September after imports growth slowed to 19-month low, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Friday morning.
The total import bill reached $11.978 billion in September, up 14.1% year on year, preliminary data from the PSA showed. This was lower than the revised 26.2% growth in August and the 22.8% in September last year.
It was the lowest imports growth in 19 months or since the 9% uptick in February 2021.
Demand for locally produced goods, meanwhile, went up 7% year on year in September to $7.158 billion, ending two straight months of annual declines. It was also higher than 6.4% growth a year ago.
This brought the trade deficit — the difference between exports and imports — to $4.821 billion in September, wider than $3.811 billion gap last year. This was narrower compared with the record $6.021 billion deficit in August.
Total trade — the sum of exports and imports — increased by 11.3% to $19.136 billion. This pace was slower than the 15% growth in August and the 15.8% climb in September 2021.
Year to date, imports rose by 24.6% to $104.964 billion, already breaching the Development Budget Coordination Committee’s 18% target growth this year.
Exports grew by 4.7% year on year to $58.313 billion during the same period, below the government’s 7% growth target.
Trade balance as of end-September ballooned to a $46.650 billion deficit, wider than the $28.580 billion trade gap in the comparable nine months last year. — MTA
