Philippines' July trade deficit widens

MANILA, Sept 12 (Reuters): The Philippines' trade deficit widened in July as imports posted their fastest gain in more than two years while exports barely grew, government data showed.

Trade deficit for July was $3.546 billion versus $3.188 billion in June. The deficit was $1.305 billion in July 2017.

Imports surged 31.6 per cent in July from a year earlier, owing to large purchases of iron and steel, and transport equipment, industrial machinery and equipment, while exports posted only a negligible growth of 0.3 per cent.

The central bank has projected an 11 per cent growth in imports this year, driven by demand for capital and consumer goods as the government pushes ahead with its massive programme to build new airports, ports, road networks.

Exports are projected to rise 10 per cent this year.

The Philippines has been posting large trade gaps since last year that have led to wide current account deficits and added pressure on the peso, which has fallen this month to its weakest in more than 12 years against the US dollar.

The peso opened 0.14 per cent weaker on Tuesday while the Philippine Stock Exchange index fell as much as one per cent in early trades.