The Philippines recorded an unexpected trade surplus in May following a deficit in the previous month, a preliminary report from the National Statistics Office showed Friday.
The trade surplus came in at $509 million in May following a revised deficit of $337 million in the previous month. Economists had expected a deficit of $100 million.
In the same month of the previous year, the surplus was $863 million.
Imports dropped 13.4 percent year-over-year in May, following a revised 12.2 percent fall in the previous month. Economists had expected imports to decline by 6.7 percent.
The negative performance was due to a decline in imports of transport equipment, mineral fuels, plastics, iron and steel, and electronic products. Imports of electronic products, which accounted for 26.6 percent of the total imports, contracted by 12.2 percent.
China remained the country’s biggest source of imports, with a 16.4 percent share in May, followed by the U.S., with a 9.7 percent share, and Japan came third contributing 8.4 percent to the imports.
Export data released two weeks ago showed that total exports decreased at a notably faster pace in May. Exports amounted to $4.9 billion by virtue of its 17.4 percent drop. In April, exports had fallen 4.1 percent.
Total trade dropped for the third straight month, dipping by 15.6 percent year-over-year in May, faster than a 8.5 percent decline in the preceding month.
For the January to May period, trade deficit narrowed to $1.28 billion from $2.01 billion in the corresponding period of last year. Imports fell 7.4 percent and exports declined 5 percent.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company – www.instaforex.com