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THE COUNTRY’S trade-in-goods deficit widened in February as imports grew for the first time in 22 months and exports contracted albeit at a slower pace that same month.
Merchandise imports grew by 2.7% to $7.60 billion in February following a 12.1% annual decline in January, preliminary data by the Philippine Statistics Authority showed.
The import tally for February was bigger than $8.4 billion and $7.4 billion in January 2021 and February 2020, respectively. However, the value of imports that month was the lowest since June 2020’s $7 billion.
Nevertheless, February marked the first expansion in imports in 22 months or since April 2019 when it posted an annual growth of 2.9%.
By Reuters Staff
1 Min Read
MANILA, April 8 (Reuters) - The Philippines recorded a $2.29 billion trade deficit in February, the smallest in three months, as the value of imports fell to the lowest since June last year, while a decline in exports slowed, official data showed on Thursday.
Exports in February contracted 2.3% to $5.3 billion from a year earlier, versus a 4.8% drop in January. Imports rose 2.7% to $7.6 billion, the Philippine Statistics Authority said. (Reporting by Neil Jerome Morales and Enrico Dela Cruz Editing by Ed Davies)
MB File (Photo by Ali Vicoy)
Based on the PSA report released on Thursday, April 8, the gap in the trade balance, or the difference between the value of export and import, jumped by 16.5 percent to $2.29 billion from $1.97 billion a year earlier.
The February trade gap, however, is lower by 20 percent compared with $2.87 billion in January.
In the first two-months of 2021, trade balance registered a $5.17 billion deficit, but this is 9.6 percent narrower compared
with $5.72 in the same period last year.
Merchandise exports declined by 2.3 percent year-on-year in February to $5.31 billion from $5.43 billion, while imports rose 2.7 percent to $7.6 billion from $7.4 billion in February last year, the PSA data revealed.
(ALI VICOY / MANILA BULLETIN)
Based on the latest census, Pasay tops the list at 1,122 cases per 100,000 people or 1.2 percent of the entire city population. The city has a population of 417,000.
San Juan followed with 1,070 active cases per 100,000 people or 1.07 percent of the entire city population. It has a population of 122,000.
Meanwhile, Makati currently has 952 active cases per 100,000 people or 0.95 percent of the entire city population. The city has a population of 583,000.
“When reporting statistics for COVID-19 active cases, local authorities and epidemiology units get the most accurate readings of their cities in relation to others not by looking merely at the number of cases, but on a population density basis,” Dr. Noel J. Miranda, former Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) regional coordinator for multi-sectoral pandemic preparedness and response, said.