Merchandise trade favorably held up in the first three quarters of 2012 with both exports and imports’ growth in the positive territory, a Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) official said.

Rosabel Guerrero, director of the BSP-Department of Economic Statistics, said over the weekend that, “expansion in goods exports at 7.9 percent surpassed that of goods imports at 2.2 percent, resulting in the 17-percent reduction in the trade-in-goods deficit during the nine-month period.”

Total exports of goods during the first nine months of the year reached $39.7 billion, driven mainly by higher growth in exports of manufactured products, fruits and vegetables, and forest products, she said.

The increments recorded in these commodity groups compensated for the lackluster performance of mineral, coconut, petroleum, and sugar exports.

On the other hand, Geurrero said that imports of goods totaled $48.7 billion in the first nine months of 2012, boosted by higher purchases of mineral fuels and lubricants (up 13.7 percent), capital goods (15.8 percent), and consumer goods (6.1 percent), which more than made up for the reduced procurement of raw materials and intermediate goods (by 7.2 percent).

“The 13.7-percent improvement in the services account was supported by increments registered in net receipts from communication, construction, and personal, cultural and recreational services,” Guerrero added.

Also contributing to the favorable outcome in the services account were the cutbacks in net payments posted in travel, financial, royalties and license fees, and government services, which more than offset the higher net outflows in transportation and insurance services.

However, the BSP also noted that net current transfers receipts increased by 2.5 percent, supported mainly by the 3.4-percent upturn in remittances of non-resident overseas Filipino workers, which reached $13 billion in the first three quarters of the year.

Net income receipts dropped to $55 million in January to September this year compared to $541 million in the same period last year.