Philippine Trade Gap Widens In October

(RTTNews) - The Philippine foreign trade deficit increased in October from a year ago as exports fell faster than imports, the Philippine Statistics Authority showed on Tuesday.

The trade deficit rose to $4.17 billion in October from $3.31 billion in the same month last year. In September, the shortfall was $3.58 billion.

Exports plunged 17.5 percent year-on-year in October, much faster than the 6.3 percent slump in the previous month. Further, this was the fastest rate of decline in six months.

Imports declined 4.4 percent annually in October, slower than the 14.1 percent fall in the previous month.