The trade balance in the Philippines unexpectedly turned to a surplus in November, preliminary data from the National Statistics Office showed Tuesday.
The trade surplus came in as $272 million in November following the revised $194 million deficit in October. Economists had expected the trade deficit to narrow to $56 million.
A year earlier, the trade deficit was $1.268 billion.
Imports fell 10.8 percent year-over-year in November following the 10.3 percent rise in October. Economists had expected imports to grow 7.5 percent.
Imports of transport equipment decreased the most, by 65.2 percent. This was followed by declines in imports of mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials and industry machinery and equipment.
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