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Sunday, July 30, 2006
Imports rise 15.2% in May
MANILA -- The Philippines' imports grew by 15.2 per cent year-on-year to US$4.376 in May largely due to the purchase of electronic products, the National Statistics Office (NSO) reported on Tuesday.
The NSO also reported that the country's trade deficit stood at US$499 million in May, slightly higher compared to a deficit of US$493 million during the same period last year.
Likewise, the NSO said merchandise imports for January to May grew by 8.2 per cent to US$19.965 billion as against exports of US$18.687 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of US$1.279 billion for the first five months of 2006.
The January-May deficit is lesser than last year's trade gap of US$2.342 billion.
Electronic products accounted for 45.3 percent of total imports in May with payments amounting to US$1.984 billion or a 9.1 percent increase over last year's figure of US$1.818 billion. Compared to the previous months level, purchases of electronic goods declined by 11.2 percent.
Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials ranked second in May with total payments of US$899.58 million, a huge 82.0 percent increase over the previous year's level of US$494.26 million due to higher oil prices in the world market.
Industrial machinery and equipment, which make up 3.9 percent of total imports for April, inched up to US$169.32 million from last years US$129.29 million.
The NSO said the gain was mainly brought about by the 31.0 percent rise in the value of imports on machinery and mechanical appliances and parts.
Transport equipment, which accounts for 2.8 percent of the total imports, ranked fourth as foreign bill amounted to US$123.28 million from US$116.65 million last year, an increment of 5.7 percent.
Iron and steel, which comprises 2.6 percent of the total imports, ranked fifth as it grew by 3.4 percent to US$112.17 million from US$108.48 million a year earlier.
Expenditures for textile yarn, fabrics, made-up articles and related products, with a 2.3 percent share, registered a US$100.29 million worth of imports from US$92.28 million of the previous year.
Rounding up the list of the top imports for May were cereals and cereal preparations, US$89.88 million; plastics in primary and non-primary forms, US$78.31 million; organic and inorganic chemicals, US$66.62 million; and telecommunications equipment and electrical machinery, US$55.35 million.
For Bisaya stories from Davao. Click here. (July 30, 2006 issue)
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