Philippines posts $4.53 billion trade deficit for April

June 9, 2023 - 9:47 AM
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Shipment to Canada
The ship Anna Maersk is docked at Roberts Bank port carrying 69 containers of mostly paper and plastic waste returned by the Philippines in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada June 29, 2019. (Reuters/Jason Redmond)

 The Philippines posted a trade deficit PHTBAL=ECI of $4.53 billion for April, preliminary official data showed on Friday.

Imports PHIMP=ECI in April fell 17.7% to $9.43 billion from a year earlier, the deepest decline recorded since May 2020.

Exports PHEXP=ECI shrank 20.2%, the biggest decline since May 2020, to $4.9 billion, falling for a fifth successive month, the Philippine Statistics Authority said.

The World Bank this week flagged high global inflation and a weaker economy as downside risks to the Philippines including its exports.

—Reporting by Neil Jerome Morales and Enrico Dela Cruz; Editing by Martin Petty