THE Philippines posted a record-high trade deficit in May as imports growth continued to surpass the expansion in exports, Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data showed on Tuesday. “The country’s balance of trade in goods (BoT-G) registered a $2.753 billion deficit in 2017 higher than the $2.240 billion deficit in May 2016,” the agency said in a statement along with the release of the official data. Based on these figures, the trade deficit in May widened by 22.9 percent from the $2.24 billion in 2016. Compared with the $1.75-billion trade gap in April, the May deficit was 56.9 percent bigger. In the first five months of 2017, cumulative trade deficit expanded by 3.9 percent to $11.04 billion from $10.62 billion in 2016.

Source: Manila Times July 11, 2017 08:48 UTC