Imports up 18% to $3.9 billion in December

MANILA, Philippines – The country’s imports surged by 17.9 percent to $3.89 billion in December 2009 from the same period in 2008, the National Statistics Office (NSO) reported yesterday

Analysts said the double-digit growth rate was an indication that the economy was firmly on the rebound.

The strong imports in December were a sign that the economy was firmly on the rebound, said April Lee-Tan of Citiseconline.

“This is another indicator that supports the argument that we are recovering. Exports have actually picked up, overseas workers’ remittances are up and consumer spending picked up in the fourth quarter,” Tan said.

The latest import figure was also a 7.3-percent improvement over the $3.63 billion in imports posted in November 2009, the NSO said.

This left the country with a trade deficit of $4.67 billion in 2009, 39 percent lower that the deficit in 2008.

Exports meanwhile rose 23.8 percent to $3.31 billion in December 2009.

This resulted in a trade deficit of $579 million in December 2009, a 7.5 percent increase over the previous year.

However Jose Vistan of AB Capital Securities said the data should still be treated with caution.

“It’s a sign of a slightly stronger economy but not substantially stronger. It is not yet something to celebrate,” he warned.

Vistan said that the rise in December imports only looked very strong because it was being compared to a low base in 2008.

The December figures marked the second month in a row the country’s imports had risen. Before that, imports had not increased since September, 2008, just before the world plummeted into a period of financial turmoil.

Despite the rise in imports in November and December, total imports in 2009 were down 24.2 percent over 2008 to hit $43 billion, the NSO said.

Purchases of electronic parts, which accounted for 31.6 percent of the total import bill, rose 8.5 percent to $1.231 billion in December from the $1.134 billion recorded in the same month in 2008. The drop in semiconductor imports, which had the biggest share of electronics purchases at 22.5 percent, eased to 2.5 percent during the month.

Electronic parts are mostly used in the Philippines’ export industry, a bedrock of the economy.

Other key imports in December include mineral fuels, lubricants, metal scrap, transport equipment, industrial machinery, cereals and cereal preparations, and organic and inorganic chemicals.

Japan remained the largest source of imports for the month with a 12 percent share, recording payments worth $465.34 million. This was a 18.1 percent rise from the December 2008 level of $394 million.

The United States came in second with $411.26 million or a 10.6 percent share of the total import bill, followed by China ($371.56 million), Korea ($318.57 million), and Singapore ($314.98 million).

The Philippine central bank expects imports to grow 13 percent to 15 percent this year. –Rica D. Delfinado (The Philippine Star) with a report from Reuters