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January trade deficit at $5.74 billion
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Exports fall 13.5% y/y, most in 3 yrs
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Imports up 3.9%, first rise in 3 months
(Releads, adds details, economist comment)
MANILA, March 14 (Reuters) - The Philippines posted its
widest trade deficit in five months for January as exports fell
sharply, pointing to a worsening trade balance that could put
pressure on the peso in the near term.
The trade gap in January ballooned to $5.74 billion, the
biggest since the record monthly deficit of $6 billion in
August, preliminary government data showed on Tuesday.
Exports saw the steepest decline in nearly three
years, down 13.5% to $5.2 billion from a year earlier, while
imports grew 3.9% to $11 billion from the same
period in 2022.
It was the first monthly rise for imports in three months.
The January trade gap was worse than the deficit of around
$4.3 billion that ING had projected.
"The persistent trade deficit in the Philippines points to
depreciation pressure for...the Philippine peso in the near
term," ING senior economist Nicholas Mapa said.
The peso has fallen more than 2% since hitting 53.65
per U.S. dollar on Feb. 3, which was the strongest close so far
this year. It was at 55.03, as of 0216 GMT.
(Reporting by Neil Jerome Morales and Enrico Dela Cruz; Editing
by Martin Petty)
