MANILA: Philippine imports dropped to the lowest level in the past two years last April, data from the Philippine Statistic Office show, reflecting declines in five of the top 10 major commodities shipped into the country.
The amount of imported merchandise fell by 12.8 percent to $4.677 billion from $5.366 billion a year earlier.
The figures represent the lowest monthly import bill since February 2013, when inward shipments totaled $4.708 billion.
“The decline in total imports for this period was due to the negative performance of five out of the top ten major commodities for the month,” the PSA noted.
The value of imported electronic products, which accounted 21.2 percent of the total import bill in April, decreased by 5.1 percent to $991.05 million from the $1.045 billion.
Inward shipments of mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials also decreased by 53.9 percent to $661.39 million from $1.435 billion. Such products represent 14.1 percent of the total import bill.
Transport equipment accounted for $443.80 million or 9.5 percent of the total imports. Shipments of transport equipment declined by 16.0 percent from $528.35 million.
On-year, total imports in the first four months dropped 6.2 percent to $20.377 billion from $21.713 billion.
The balance of trade in goods registered a deficit of $300.92 million in April, compared with $802.32 million on-year as exports dropped to $4.376 billion from $4.563 billion.
