Philippines likely to post narrowed trade deficit in March on stronger export growth

The Philippines will release March trade balance and import data on 26 May. Stnadard Started expects the trade balance to have narrowed to a deficit of USD 400mn, from a deficit of USD 837mn in February. 

Export growth improved in March to 2.1% y/y from a decline of 3% in February, which likely helped reduce the trade deficit. A pick-up in external demand is likely to over the rest of the year, which should also fuel demand for intermediate goods. Analysts expect higher growth in electronic imports to have supported March import growth - Standard Chartered forecasts 5.3% y/y of overall import growth, versus 13.4% in February.