Imports rise 10% in November

MANILA, Philippines - The country’s imports in November rose 10.1 percent to $6.1 billion compared to $5.5 billion in the same month in 2014, the Philippine Statistics Authority said.

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said the November figure bested 10 of the country’s Asian peers.

“The Philippines ranked first among its Asian peers in terms of imports growth in November 2015,” Economic Planning Secretary and NEDA director general Arsenio Balisacan said.

Except Vietnam, who had a 6.6-percent imports growth, all other nine selected Asian economies (People’s Republic of China, Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Japan, Malaysia, Republic of Korea, and Indonesia) had their imports decline during the period.

The PSA reported the November growth was due to higher purchases of capital goods, consumer goods, and raw materials and intermediate goods.

The value of imported capital goods, a leading indicator of strong economic activity, grew 40.8 percent in November 2015.

Import payments for raw materials and intermediate goods, which account for 41.4 percent of the country’s total imports, rose 14 percent to $2.5 billion.

Import payments for consumer goods also grew by eight percent to $1 billion due to higher purchases of durable goods and home appliances.

“Despite an expected slow recovery in the global economy, continued growth in the country’s merchandise imports signifies the increasing investment demand in the Philippines,” Balisacan said.

Meanwhile, imports of mineral products and lubricants declined 40.1 percent, weighed down mainly by lower imports of petroleum crude from Saudi Arabia, Japan and Vietnam.

Electronic products, which grew 68.8 percent, led the top 10 major imported commodities.

The other four positive performers were: industrial machinery and equipment (up 37.3 percent); telecommunication equipment and electrical machinery (up 26.8 percent); transport equipment (up 19.8 percent); and cereals and cereal preparations (up 1.9 percent).

Meanwhile, imports for the period January to November 2015 registered a 4.5 percent increment, from $59.928 billion in 2014 to $62.629 billion.