Philippines posts widest trade gap in 20 months

MANILA :Farm output in the Philippines declined by the most in nearly four years in the third quarter, the statistics agency said on Wednesday, a reading which does not bode well for economic growth in the period.
Farm output fell 3.7 per cent in the third quarter from last year, steeper than the previous quarter’s 3.2 per cent slump, and marking the biggest contraction since the fourth quarter of 2020 when it shrank 3.8 per cent. Crop production, which accounted for half of total production, declined by 5.1 per cent during the period.
“Undeniably, the combined effects of El Niño and La Niña weighed down palay (rice) production,” Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel said in a statement.
Wednesday’s farm output data came a day before the Philippines releases data on third quarter gross domestic product growth, which according to a Reuters poll, may have slowed to 5.7 per cent from the upwardly revised 6.4 per cent expansion in the June quarter.
But a bright spot in the economy is the country’s labour market as the unemployment rate further declined to 3.7 per cent in September from 4.5 per cent a year ago, government data showed.
In a sign that domestic consumption remained robust, imports in September rose by an annual 9.9 per cent, the largest increase since April, but exports continued to cloud the growth outlook as they fell 7.6 per cent, the biggest drop since June.
Weaker growth in the third quarter could bolster expectations of a third straight interest rate cut by the central bank, which will meet on December 19 to review policy.