Container vans stacked together are seen inside the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) compound in Manila on April 1, 2020. George Calvelo, ABS-CBN News
MANILA - Philippine exports grew 2.2 percent in September from a year earlier, the first monthly rise since February, as the government gradually reopened the pandemic-hit economy, government data showed on Wednesday.
Imports shrank 16.5 percent, the weakest pace since February.
The Southeast Asian country recorded total exports worth $6.2
billion for September, against imports of $7.9 billion, yielding
a trade deficit of $1.7 billion, the narrowest in three months,
the Philippine Statistics Authority said.
China remained the country's biggest supplier of imported goods followed by Japan, South Korea, United States of America and Indonesia.
“The government needs to pass the remaining recovery programs – the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) bill, the Government Financial Institutions Unified Initiative to Distressed Enterprises for Economic Recovery (GUIDE) bill, and the Financial Institutions Strategy Transfer (FIST) bill – which will further support COVID-affected sectors recover faster, while promoting the resurgence of trade,” said NEDA Acting Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua.
Philippines, PH, Philippines trade, Philippines exports, Philippines imports, Philippines balance of trade, Philippines trade September 2020, ANC, ANC Top