June imports grow 1.4 percent year-on-year, says NSO

Imports in June grew by a measly 1.4 percent year-on-year because of sluggish shipments of electronic products, the National Statistics Office (NSO) said Wednesday. In its external trade report, the NSO said the country's total merchandise imports increased to only $4.166 billion in June this year from $4.107 billion a year earlier. Month-on-month basis, imports posted a double-digit contraction of 12.4 percent, the Statistics Office said. Data showed that payments for electronic products — including consigned and direct importations using the expanded coverage of electronic products —amounted to $1.444 billion from $1.385 billion. Electronic products also posted a 5.-percent contraction from $1.529 billion recorded in May. Among the major electronic products, components and devices or semiconductors accounted for biggest share of 26.6 percent. Semiconductors posted a measly 5.5-percent growth to $1.110 billion from $1.052 billion year-on-year. Payments for imports from the top 10 import sources of the Philippines for June of this year amounted to $3.278 billion, accounting for 78.7 percent of the total. —JE, GMANews.TV