PH trade deficit shrank by nearly 15% in April

MANILA -The Philippines deficit in the trade of goods shrank by 14.9 percent year-on-year in April when the import bill exceeded export earnings by $4.53 billion compared to $5.3 billion in the same month last year.

Preliminary data at the Philippine Statistics Authority show that while the trade gap narrowed significantly, two-way traffic of goods in April also declined by 18.6 percent to $14.3 billion from $17.6 billion.

Last April, export receipts fell by 20.2 percent to $4.9 billion from $6.1 billion a year ago.