Manila: Philippine exports sustained its double-digit growth in October as it recovered from the impact of United States' trade policies. Data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority on Friday showed a 19.4 percent annual jump in exports to USD7.30 billion, against USD6.2 billion during the same period last year. In September, exports jumped by 16.2 percent to USD7.25 billion.

According to Philippines News Agency, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Cristina Roque said in an interview that officials are committed to bolstering exports' expansion by diversifying markets for Philippine products. On Aug. 7, the 19 percent reciprocal tariff imposed by the US took effect, and this hurt the expansion in the Philippines' exports to just 4.6 percent.

Roque highlighted that it is beneficial that the US excluded a number of agricultural products, such as coconut oil, from the tariff implementation. 'Those that are in the agri business have been waiting for this. So, at least they won. This is a happy news for them,' she said.