PH Oct trade deficit widens on higher capital goods, fuel imports

The Philippines’ trade deficit widened in October from a year earlier as imports continued to outpace exports, rising on the back of increasing local demand for fuel products, as well as capital and consumer goods, official data showed on Friday.

“The balance of trade in goods (BOT-G) for the Philippines in October 2016 registered a deficit of $2.163 billion, higher than the $1.944 billion trade deficit in the same month last year,” the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said in a statement released with the trade data.