February imports up by 5 percent to P4.99 B

MANILA, Philippines—The country imported 4.9 percent more goods in February 2012 at $4.993 billion compared with $4.761 billion in the same month last year, according to the National Statistics Office.

Gainers were cereals, transport equipment, industrial machinery, plastics, iron and steel, and medicinal products. Imports of chemicals, electronic products, telecommunication equipment and fuels declined.

Electronics, which made up more than a fourth of imports in February, were down 5.1 percent from the same month last year ($1.422 billion from $1.51 billion). Despite the contraction, this was an improvement from the 26.9-percent decline in electronic imports in January 2012.

February 2012 imports were 2.8 percent lower than the $5.134 billion in January 2012.

Aggregate imports for the first two months of 2012 inched up by 0.6 percent to $10.126 billion from $10.063 billion posted during the same two-month period in 2011.