MANILA, Philippines — Despite a brief return to suffocating coronavirus lockdowns, trade continued its ascent in April on the back of record rise in both imports and exports, but the figures hardly reflect a convincing recovery. External trade grew 107.5% year-on-year to $14.16 billion, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported on Wednesday morning. Imports jumped a bigger 140.9% on-year to $8.44 billion, marking their third straight month of growth after 21 consecutive quarters of decline. The growth figures were the highest in PSA’s data set that dates back to at least 1991. For Nicholas Antonio Mapa, senior economist at ING Bank in Manila, the stronger trade data was expected due to distortions from low base effects.

Source: Philippine Star June 09, 2021 03:33 UTC