PH TRADE DEFICIT LUMAKI PA, $3.14-B SA MARSO

PATULOY sa pag­lobo ang trade gap ng bansa noong Marso sa pagbaba ng exports at pagsipa naman ng imports, ayon sa Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

Sa datos ng PSA, ang bansa ay nagposte ng deficit na $3.14 billion noong Marso, mas malaki sa $2.34-billion deficit na naitala sa kahalintulad na panahon noong nakaraang taon.

Ang total export sales ay bumaba ng 2.5% sa $5.88 billion mula sa $6.02 billion dahil sa pagbagsak ng export sales ng apat sa top 10 major export commodities, na kinabibilangan ng machinery and transport equipment (-10.2%), iba pang manufactured goods (-8.1%), electronic products (-3.7%), at metal components (-1.2%).

“Imports, on the other hand, increased by 7.8% to $9.01 billion from $8.36 billion on the back of positive growth in seven of the top 10 major import commodities, namely cereals and cereal preparations (97.9%), miscellaneous manufactured articles (43.5%), telecommunication equipment and electrical machinery (37.2%), other food and live animals (33.5%), plastics in primary and non-primary forms (14.2%),  industrial machinery and equipment (11.1%), and electronic products (6.5%),” paha­yag ng PSA.

Sa hiwalay na paha­yag, hinikayat ng National Economic and Development Autho­rity (NEDA) ang mga local producer na pat-uloy na i-diversify ang mga  produkto at mag­hanap ng mga bagong merkado, lalo na sa ibang bansa, upang mapalakas ang Philip-pine exports.

“To drive up exports, we are encouraging exporters to continue to diversify products to expand their markets. To match this effort, the government continues to explore non-traditional markets such as Eastern European countries and is seeking to strengthen ties with traditional trading partners,” ani So-cioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia.