The country’s trade gap narrowed by 33.3 percent in June as imports recorded a double-digit drop from the previous year’s level.
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, the trade deficit in June amounted to $3.92 billion, posting a sharp decline from the $5.88 billion recorded a year ago as well as versus the $4.45 billion in the previous month.
The total imported goods in June 2023 slid to $10.62 billion from $12.52 billion in the same month of the previous year, indicating an annual drop of 15.2 percent.
The country’s total export sales in June amounted to $6.7 billion, which inched up 0.8 percent from the $6.64 billion in the same month in 2022.
Thus, the country’s total external trade in goods amounted to $17.32 billion in June, posting a 9.6 percent decrease from its level of $19.17 billion in the same time last year.
Michael Ricafort, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. chief economist, said the trade deficit in June is the narrowest in four months.
Meanwhile, the decline in imports is among the lowest in more than a year or since February 2022, while exports is highest in seven months or since November 2022.
“Global oil prices and other commodity prices were lower in June 2023 that partly contributed to the narrower trade deficit/net imports in recent months. However, global crude oil prices recently went up by more than $10 or more than 10 percent since June 2023,” Ricafort said.
“Thus, for the coming months, trade deficit/net imports could somewhat widen due to higher global crude oil prices since July 2023, recently among 3.5-month highs,” he added.
