MANILA, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines' total trade declined by 7.5 percent in September as both imports and exports registered lower growth rates, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Wednesday.

The PSA said the total external trade in goods in September reached 14.92 billion U.S. dollars, which reflected a decrease of 7.5 percent from the 16.13 billion U.S. dollars external trade in September last year.

Of the total external trade, the PSA said 5.90 billion U.S. dollars, or 39.5 percent, were exported goods and 9.02 billion U.S. dollars, or 60.5 percent, were imported goods.

The PSA said the Philippines' balance of trade in goods recorded a 3.12-billion-U.S. dollar deficit in September, lower by 22.5 percent from the 4.02-billion-U.S. dollar deficit in September 2018.

The PSA further said exports dropped by 2.6 percent in September, dragged by the decline in manufactured goods and mineral products.

Meanwhile, the PSA said imports contracted by 10.5 percent due to steep declines in raw materials and intermediate goods.

"Despite the overall decline in export performance, our export trade to South Korea posted double-digit growth rate for the third consecutive month and exports to Japan showed a significant turnaround from a decline in the previous period," Philippine Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia said.

"These export bright spots will pave the way for the country's trade recovery over the near term," he added.

Moreover, Pernia said the Philippine government must sustain faster infrastructure spending in the fourth quarter in 2019 to achieve the target disbursement performance for the year.

"The push for high impact and implementable infrastructure projects under the 'Build, Build, Build' program is expected to improve transport and logistics, which are crucial in supporting the growth of exports," Pernia said.

He stressed that the timely passage of the proposed 2020 national budget is important to sustain the implementation of construction-related projects and activities. Enditem

Related

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)