The country’s trade deficit narrowed in March as imports recorded a sharper contraction versus that of exports.
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the trade deficit in March slid by 36.6 percent to $3.18 billion versus the $5.02 billion recorded a year ago.
It is also lower than the previous month’s level of $3.66 billion.
The total imported goods in March 2024 amounted to $9.31 billion, indicating a drop of 20 percent from the $11.63 billion import value in the same month of the previous year.
The commodity group with the highest annual decline in the value of imported goods was electronic products at $350.61 million.
This was followed by mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials which declined by $323.56 million, and metalliferous ores and metal scrap with an annual decrease of $287.48 million.
The year-to-date annual total import value thus amounted to $29.22 billion, down 7.6 percent from the total import value of $31.61 billion recorded in the same period a year ago.
Meanwhile, the country’s total export sales in March 2024 amounted to $6.13 billion, posting a decline of 7.3 percent from the $6.61 billion total exports in the same month of the previous year.
Mineral products recorded the highest year-on-year drop in the value of exports among commodity groups with $195.08 million.
This was followed by other manufactured goods with an annual decrease of $66.48 million, and cathodes and sections of cathodes, of refined copper with an annual decline of $56.05 million.
The year-to-date annual total value of exports amounted to $17.98 billion, up 4.8 percent from the total export value of $17.16 billion in January to March 2023.
The country’s total external trade in goods in March amounted to $15.44 billion, down 15.4 percent from the $18.25 billion total external trade in the same period of the previous year.
