THE country's trade deficit narrowed in February as both imports and exports grew, preliminary data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed on Thursday.

The merchandise trade gap of $3.66 billion was smaller than January's $4.39 billion and the year-earlier $3.89 billion.

Total trade in goods rose by 9.7 percent to $15.46 billion from $14.09 billion in February last year, with imports totaling $9.55 billion and exports at $5.9 billion.

Imports grew by 6.3 percent, rebounding from the 11.8-percent and 6.1-percent contractions posted a year earlier.

Exports went up by 15.7 percent, also reversing from an 18.3-percent decline last year and surging from January's 9.1-percent growth.

Imports comprised 61.8 percent of total external trade in January and exports accounted for the rest.

Electronics remained the country's top export, amounting to $3.4 billion or 57.9 percent of total exports and up from $2.69 billion a year earlier.

The United States was the biggest buyer of Philippine-made goods during the month, having purchased a total of $947.83 million or 16.0 percent of the country's total exports.

Rounding out the top five were Japan ($849.17 million or 14.4 percent), Hong Kong ($774.03 million or 13.1 percent), China ($695.25 million or 11.8 percent) and Thailand ($282.01 million or 4.8 percent).

Electronic products were also the Philippines' biggest import for the month at $1.92 billion or 20.1 percent of the total. This was lower than the year-earlier $2.14 billion.

China was the country's biggest supplier, providing $2.18 billion worth of goods or 22.8 percent of total imports.

It was followed by Japan ($845.23 million or 8.8 percent), South Korea ($719.90 million or 7.5 percent), Indonesia ($664.57 million or 7.0 percent) and Thailand ($660.86 million or 6.9 percent).

Commenting on the latest merchandise trade data, Chinabank Research said the expansion in exports had boosted optimism that exports were on track for a sustained recovery.

"We also saw positive year-on-year growth in shipments to China after months of decline, which could boost export demand if sustained," it added.

But while the trade deficit narrowed for a third straight month in February, "it could widen moving forward if the recovery in exports is offset by higher imports."