Import bill posts flat growth in February

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - Import bill posted flat growth in February due to lower inward shipments of electronic products during the month, the local statistics agency said today.

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said in a report that total import bill in February inched up by 0.3 percent on year to $4.72 billion.

"However, on a monthly basis, payments for merchandise imports decreased by 20.7 percent from $5.95 billion posted in January 2014," said PSA.

In terms of value, purchases of electronic products posted a slight increase of 2.2 percent on year to $1.25 billion. Electronic products remained as the country's top imported goods, accounting for 27.1 percent of import bill in February.

"(In terms of) volume, inward shipments of electronic products decreased compared to the same period a year ago," the PSA said.

Payments for fuel and lubricants, which accounted for 17.4- percent of the total import bill, declined by 32.2 percent on year to $820 million.

Purchases of transport equipment, the country's third top imports, went up by 56.5 percent on year to $487.51 million.

Major sources of imports for the Philippines in February were China, the United States, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore.

The country posted a trade deficit of $66 million in February, lower than the $967 million registered a year ago.

Philippine import bill in the first two months of the year summed up to $10.67 billion, 13.15 percent higher than the $9.43 billion posted in the same period last year.

The Philippine government is targeting to hike imports by 6 percent in 2014.