Trade gap widens as imports rise

THE trade gap widened to $4.02 billion in December as exports slowed while imports surged, partly in support of a spike in infrastructure-related activities amid the government’s ‘Build Build Build’ program.

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said on Friday that total external trade in goods reached $13.46 billion, an increase of 8.6 percent from the $12.40 billion registered during the same month in 2016.