PHILIPPINE international trade performance fell significantly in March as exports and imports of goods shrank to multi-year levels, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported this morning.
Preliminary trade data from the PSA showed merchandise exports in March contracting by 24.9% to $4.53 billion compared to a 2.8% growth in February and a 0.1% uptick recorded in March 2019.
Likewise, merchandise imports fell 26.2% to $6.91 billion in March, deteriorating from an 11.6% decline observed in the same month last year.
The export figure marked the biggest decline in nearly a decade, or since the 27% contraction logged in September 2011. For imports, it was the biggest plunge since negative 28.3% recorded in August 2009.
Trade deficit in March was recorded at $2.38 billion, lower than the $3.33-billion gap in the same month last year.
The country’s total external trade in goods – the sum of export and import goods – was $11.4 billion in March, 25.7% less than the $15.4-billion total in the same month last year.
So far, total trade reached $39.0 billion, 10.4% less than $43.5 billion in January-March 2019.
From January to March, exports were down 5.2% to $15.72 billion to date, well below the 4% growth target for 2020 by the Development Budget Coordination Committee.
Meanwhile, the merchandise import bill declined by 13.6% to $23.26 billion on a cumulative basis against the DBCC’s eight-percent growth target for the year.
That brought the year-to-date trade balance to a $7.54-billion deficit, smaller than the $10.34-billion shortfall in 2019’s comparable three months. — Mark T. Amoguis
