Imports up 11.3% to $4.78 B in May
Rica D. Delfinado
Philippine Star
The country’s import payments rose by 11.3 percent to $4.783 billion in May as high fuel and rice purchases overshadowed a 14.4 percent annual drop in electronics imports, which signals weaker export growth ahead.
Shipments of electronics parts dominate imports and are used as inputs for the country’s key semiconductor export.
The National Statistics Office (NSO) said the increase in the price of imported oil and food helped sharply drive up the trade deficit.
For the first five months of the year, imports surged by 16.6 percent to $24.245 billion from P20.80 billion a year ago.
The increase brought the trade deficit in the first five months to $3.16 billion, a sharp increase from $347 million over the same period last year.
Electronics purchases from abroad hit $1.51 billion in May, a 14.4 percent drop from the same period last year.
Those imported components are used as inputs in the country’s electronics exports, and a fall often signals a drop in overseas demand for local electronics products which make up more than half of Philippine exports.
The NSO noted that importation of all “raw materials and intermediate goods,” which are widely used in manufacturing exported products, fell 6.4 percent in May to $1.71 billion.
The import of cereals jumped 156.7 percent to $294.78 million, the NSO said. The Philippines is one of the world’s largest rice importers.
Rounding up the list of the top 10 imports for May 2008 were organic and inorganic chemicals, $107.05 million; plastics in primary and non-primary forms with $92.44 million worth of imports; telecommunication equipment and electrical machinery, $71.82 million; and textile yarn, fabrics, made-up articles and related products, $69.57 million.
Aggregate payment for the country’s top ten imports for May 2008 reached $3.889 billion or 81.3 percent of the total import bill.
The US was the country’s biggest source of imports for May with shipments worth $547.21 million.
Japan followed with shipments worth $519.30 million followed by Saudi Arabia with $496.99 million.
Other major sources of imports were Singapore, $481 million; China, $345 million; Taiwan, $293 million; and Thailand, $274 million.
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