Philippines: Merchandise trade deficit shrinks in June
Merchandise exports declined 0.1% in annual terms in June, coming in above May’s revised 1.8% contraction (previously reported: -3.8% year-on-year). May’s result reflected contractions in 4 of the 10 top commodity categories. Mineral products other than gold recorded the largest decrease, followed by chemicals; ignition wiring sets used in vehicles, aircraft and ships; and fresh bananas..
Growth in imports surged from a revised 12.6% in May (previously reported: +11.4% yoy) to 24.2% in June. The faster expansion was driven by an across-the-board acceleration in all 10 top commodity categories of the index.
The merchandise trade balance in June recorded a USD 3.4 billion deficit, lower than the 3.7 billion deficit recorded in May, but more than twice the USD 1.5 billion deficit logged in June 2017.