Manila, May 6 -- 9) pandemic around the world and the resulting restrictions in production supply chains and global trade flow led to the decline in Philippine trade in March 2020, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said.
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported Wednesday that the country's total merchandise trade dropped to USD11.44 billion - its lowest level in two years.
This trade performance is 25.7 percent lower than the US$15.40 billion recorded in the same month in the previous year. Both exports and imports registered declines of 24.9 percent and 26.2 percent, respectively.
"Merchandise trade may recover in 2021, but this will depend on how fast we can contain the spread of Covid-19 and mitigate its...