Philippine trade gap tops US$ 3 billion for 4th straight month in July

MANILA : The Philippines’ trade deficit remained above US$3 billion for a fourth consecutive month in July, as imports rose faster than exports, government data on Thursday showed.

The trade gap in July was US$3.3 billion, as imports jumped 24per cent to US$9.71 billion, while exports grew 12.7per cent to US$6.42 billion.

(Reporting by Neil Jerome Morales and Enrico Dela Cruz; Editing by Ed Davies)