Philippines posts $4 billion trade deficit in December, four-month low

January 26, 2024 - 9:16 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 of $4.01 billion for December, its narrowest gap in four months, government data showed on Friday.

Imports in December declined 5.1% to $9.8 billion from a year earlier, while exports eased 0.5%, its slowest drop since posting an uptick in August, to $5.8 billion, the Philippine Statistics Authority said.

— Reporting by Neil Jerome Morales and Mikhail Flores; Editing by Kanupriya Kapoor