The Philippine imports surged by 16. 9 percent year-on-year to 6.5 billion U.S. dollars in July, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said Wednesday.
The increase was due to the positive performance of nine out of the top ten major imported commodities for the month.
These were power generating and specialized machinery; miscellaneous manufactured articles; other food & live animals; electronic products; industrial machinery and equipment; telecommunication equipment and electrical machinery; iron and steel; plastics in primary and non-Primary forms; and transport equipment. For the seven month period to July, total imports reached to 37. 228 billion U.S. dollars, a 0.1 percent increase compared with 37. 175 billion U.S. dollars in the same period of last year.
National Economic and Development Authority Director General Arsenio Balisacan said that steady growth in importation of key imported commodities is expected to further boost the growth of investments and household consumption in the third quarter of 2015.
"This will offset weak revenues from exports, which remains affected by dampened global demand," he said.
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