Imports registered flat growth in July

MANILA, Philippines–The amount of goods shipped in from abroad registered flat growth in July, reflecting a region-wide slowdown in imports, the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) reported Thursday.

Data from National Statistics Office (NSO) showed that merchandise imports at the start of the second half inched up by only 0.002 percent to $5.4943 billion, from last year’s $5.4941 billion.

Neda attributed the small increase to “year-on-year gains in overseas spending for mineral fuels and lubricants and consumer goods, which partially cushioned the contraction in the value of imported raw materials and capital goods.”

The overall performance of merchandise imports indicates “a mild recovery from a decline of 0.4 percent in May this year,” said Emmanuel F. Esguerra, Neda deputy director general. “Year-to-date growth is also better than last year’s negative 1.6-percent contraction. However, on a year-on-year basis, it is way below the 8.9 percent growth in 2013.”

According to Neda, the Philippines’ import performance in July “may be a reflection of a regional phenomenon, as majority of the East and Southeast Asian trade-oriented economies registered decreases in imports.”

Only South Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam bucked the import slowdown trend that month, the agency noted.

The country’s top sources of imported products in July were China (14.2 percent), Japan (8.5 percent), Taiwan (8.3 percent), the United States (7.5 percent), Singapore (6.4 percent), South Korea (6.4 percent), Saudi Arabia (6.2 percent), Malaysia (5.2 percent), Indonesia (5.1 percent), and Thailand (4.5 percent).

At the end of July, merchandise import receipts went up by 4.8 percent to $36.946 billion, from $35.246 billion, in the first seven months of last year.

As exports rose by a faster pace than imports, the trade-in-goods deficit from January to July was slashed to $1.7 billion. During the seven-month period, export shipments climbed by 8.5 percent to $35.1 billion.–Ben O. de Vera