MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) – Import bill in June declined to a four-month low of 4.8 percent on year to $4.86 billion on back of a huge drop in electronics imports, the National Statistics Office (NSO) said today.
Payment for electronics, which account for over 20 percent of total import bill, fell 24.8 percent on year to $1.096 billion. Volume of shipment of this product also went down by 7.3 percent compared to June 2012. The Philippine semiconductor industry uses these inputs to produce and export products. The weak global demand for electronics likewise slowed the country’s import of electronics.
The import of transport equipment, cereals, telecommunication equipment and electrical machinery, iron and steel and plastic likewise declined.
Most of the country’s imports were sourced from China, Japan, US and Singapore.
Total imports for the first half of the year declined 3.8 percent on year to $29.62 billion.
The trade deficit in June narrowed to $370 million compared with last year’s $789 million deficit. –(philstar.com)
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