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Wednesday, February 19, 2003
Trade surplus falls 38.7% last year (12:58 pm)
MANILA -- The trade surplus fell 38.7 percent last year to US$1.60 billion after the growth of imports outstripped gains in exports, official figures showed Wednesday.
Imports rose by 13.3 percent to US$33.47 billion while exports grew 9.1 percent to US$35.06 billion, the National Statistics Office said in a statement.
The trade surplus in December fell 31 percent from a year earlier to US$347 million. Imports rose by 19.8 percent to US$2.57 billion while exports rose by 10.1 percent to US$2.91 billion.
Electronics and components for the export-oriented semiconductor industry were the country's largest import category in December, accounting for US$626.3 million or 24.4 percent of the total.
Office and electronic data processing machines were the second largest import category with 10.3 percent of the total.
Japan was the largest source of imports in December, accounting for US$551.1 million or 21.5 percent of the total. It was followed by the United States with an 18.9 percent share and Singapore with 6.67 percent. (AFP) |
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