Imports dip in December

MANILA, Philippines - The country's merchandise imports declined by 10.6 percent in December 2014 to $4.869 billion from the $5.445 billion recorded the previous month, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Tuesday.

"The decrease in total imports for this period was due to the negative performance of five out of the top 10 major commodities for the month. These were: transport equipment; mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials; cereals and cereal preparations; miscellaneous manufactured articles; and industrial machinery and equipment," PSA noted.

The state agency said the balance of trade in goods in December posted a deficit of $68.22 million from the $485.33 million posted the same period the previous year.

Aggregate imports, meanwhile, posted a 2.4-percent increase to $63.923 billion in 2014 from the $62.411 billion posted in the same period in 2013.

Electronic products were the country's top import with a 34.8-percent share, followed by mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials; transport equipment; industrial machinery and equipment; and other food and live animals.

"Aggregate payment for the country’s top 10 imports for December 2014 reached $3.776 billion or 77.6 percent of the total import bill," PSA added.