Rice, oil price hike push RP July imports - NSO

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine imports in July jumped by nearly a fifth although imports of electronic products, which are used as components for the country's top exports, also declined by as much. The National Statistics Office on Thursday reported that July imports jumped 16 percent to $5.848 billion from $5.042 billion in the same month in 2007 "due to the increase in the inward shipments of rice and the continued surge of oil prices." The January to July imports grew 15.8 percent to $35.38 billion, bringing the Philippines' trade deficit at $5.345 billion, more than three times of the $1.699 billion recorded in the seven-month period last year. "Total external trade in goods for January to July 2008 reached $64.415 billion, a 10.1 percent increment from $59.397 billion during the seven-month period in 2007. On the other hand, total exports posted a growth of 4.1 percent for January to July 2008 to aggregate dollar revenue of $30.035 billion from $28.849 billion in the same period last year," the NSO said. The country's top imported materials were mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials, electronic products, cereals and cereal preparations, transport equipment, industrial machinery and equipment, and iron and steel. The NSO added that although electronic products accounted for 29.8 percent of the country's import bill, it fell by 17.4 percent to $1.745 billion from $2.113 billion in the same month in 2007. The country's top import sources were Saudi Arabia, Japan, Singapore, US, China, Taiwan, Thailand, South Korea, Malaysia and Vietnam. GMANews.TV