Philippines posts record USD 6 billion trade deficit in August

MANILA, Oct 11 (Reuters) – The Philippines posted a trade deficit of USD 6 billion for August, 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 USD 12.4 billion, while exports fell for the second straight month, by 2% to USD 6.4 billion, 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)