MANILA— The Philippines posted a trade deficit of $6 billion for August PHTBAL=ECI, its biggest monthly gap on record, as the value of imports sustained a double-digit pace of growth, while exports contracted, government data showed on Tuesday.
Imports rose 26% from a year earlier to $12.4 billion PHIMP=ECI, while exports fell for the second straight month, by 2% to $6.4 billion PHEXP=ECI, the Philippine Statistics Authority said.
Ahead of the release of the data, ING senior economist Nicholas Mapa said the trade deficit was likely to test historic lows and “put pressure on the Philippine peso in the near term”.
—Reporting by Neil Jerome Morales and Enrico Dela Cruz; Editing by Kim Coghill and Ed Davies
