Philippines trade deficit at $5.84 billion as imports surge

MANILA – The Philippines posted a $5.84 billion trade deficit in June, the widest gap based on data running from January 2020, government figures showed on Tuesday, ahead of the release of second-quarter GDP figures at about 0200 GMT.

Imports rose 26% from a year earlier to $12.5 billion, driven largely by higher cost of fuel, while exports increased just 1% to $6.64 billion.

(Reporting by Karen Lema and Enrico Dela Cruz; Editing by Martin Petty)