Trade deficit balloons in May as imports jump

THE Philippines’ trade-in-goods deficit widened to $5.48 billion in May from a year ago, as imports grew faster than exports, according to the statistics agency.

- By Beatriz Marie D. Cruz

Preliminary data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed the trade-in-goods balance — the difference between exports and imports — widened by 50.5% to $5.48 billion in May from $3.64 billion recorded in the same month a year ago.

Month on month, the trade gap narrowed from the revised $6.43 billion in April.

May saw the smallest trade gap in two months or since the $5.04-billion deficit in March.

The country’s trade balance has been in deficit for more than a decade or since the $64.95-million surplus recorded in May 2015.