Imports up 4.3% in Oct

MANILA, Philippines - The country saw merchandise imports continue to rise in October from a year ago due to higher purchases of electronic products, metal scraps, cereals, transport and telecommunication equipment as well as industrial machinery.

The National Statistics Office (NSO) reported yesterday that imports went up  4.3 percent to $5.240 billion in October from last year’s $5.024 billion.

“Metalliferous ores and metal scrap, cereals and cereal preparations, transport equipment, telecommunication equipment and electrical machinery, electronic products and industrial machinery and equipment, all contributed to the overall growth in imports for the period,” it said.

But while October imports increased year-on-year, it went down slightly by 0.5 percent compared to the previous month’s level of $5.266 billion.

For the January to October period, imports posted a slight increase of 0.9 percent to $51.275 billion from the same period in 2011.

University of the Philippines economist Benjamin Diokno said in a text message yesterday that given year-to-date imports, it is impossible for the government to meet its official imports target of 12 percent for the year.

“For the government to meet its imports growth target, imports have to grow  45 percent in November and December,” he said.

“But that’s impossible given the weak-growing and uncertain world economy,” he said further.

Late last month, the interagency Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC), which sets the country’s macroeconomic assumptions, trimmed the imports growth goal this year to seven percent from 12 percent amid uncertainties in the global economy.

The NSO said payments for inward shipments of electronic products, which rose 8.7 percent to $1.345 billion from last year, accounted for the bulk of the import bill in October.

Payments for imports of metalliferous ores and metal scrap surged 326.4 percent to $222.93 million from a year ago.

Purchases of cereal and cereal preparations also grew 120.7 percent to $187.67 million compared to last year.

Transport equipment brought to the country from overseas jumped 21.4 percent to $410 million from the previous year.

Imports of telecommunication equipment and electrical machinery rose 9.5 percent year-on-year to $108.31 million.

Inward shipments of industrial machinery and equipment likewise climbed 4.6 percent to $277.98 million from last year.

In terms of imports source, the NSO noted that the United States of America (USA) including Alaska and Hawaii, accounted for most of the inward shipments in October with its 11.5 percent share.

Payments for imports from the US reached $603.96 million, an increase of 22.3 percent from last year.

The NSO also said total external trade in goods for October reached $9.648 billion, up 5.1 percent from last year.

It said the increase could be attributed to the 6.1 percent growth in exports to $4.408 billion in October from last year, as well as the higher imports.

The balance of trade in goods in October registered a deficit of $832 million, which is lower compared to the $869 million deficit in the same month last year.