Philippines posts US$4.13bil trade deficit in August

MANILA (Reuters): The Philippines posted a trade deficit of US$4.13 billion for August, a slightly narrower gap versus the previous month after an increase in exports, preliminary official data showed on Tuesday (Oct 10).

Imports fell 13.1% to $10.83 billion from a year earlier, marking the seventh straight month of decline.

Exports increased 4.2% to $6.7 billion, the biggest growth in nine months, the Philippine Statistics Authority said.

With the country's trade deficit unlikely to narrow much into year-end, the Philippine peso will only get a reprieve when services trade surplus and inward remittance pick up in October and December, HSBC said in an Oct 9 report.