The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said that the sustained growth of the country’s merchandise imports in July 2011 was due to increased purchases of petroleum crude and durable consumer goods.
NEDA’s statement came after the National Statistics Office (NSO) reported that total value of imports in the said month grew year-on-year by 6.6 percent to US$5.0 billion in July 2011.
“Imports growth was supported by significant gains in the payments for mineral fuels, lubricants, and related materials but was partially moderated by lower inward shipments of raw materials, intermediate goods and capital goods,” said Socioeconomic Planning Secretary W. Paderanga, Jr.
The NSO reported that import payments for mineral fuels and lubricants increased by 82.6 percent in July 2011 compared with the level a year ago due to higher volume of petroleum crude imports and higher prices in the international market.
Also, the value of imported durable goods increased by 9.7 percent year-on-year due to higher payments for home appliances (26.3%) and other durable consumer goods (32.5%). Imports of passenger cars and motorized cycle in July 2011 registered a 6.0 percent contraction year-on-year.
Paderanga said that according to the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers in the Philippines, Inc. (CAMPI), total units of passenger cars and commercial vehicles sold in July 2011 dropped by 27.7 percent from the total sales a year ago but increased by 5.2 percent from June 2011.
“The increase in sales of passenger cars and commercial vehicles relative to the previous month reflects the positive impact of the gradually stabilizing production due to the recovery of supply networks in Japan and other Asian neighbors,” the Cabinet official said.
Meanwhile, buoying imports of non-durable consumer goods in July 2011 were higher payments for imported dairy products (56.1%), apparels and accessories (122.9%), fish and fish preparation (56.4%) and fruits and vegetables (16.6%). However, these were pulled down by the 41.9 percent year-on-year contraction in the imports of rice in July 2011.
“The low volume of rice importation may be partially attributed to the improved domestic production due to the expansion in harvest area and increase in yield. This is also consistent with the government’s policy to significantly reduce rice imports and attain rice sufficiency for the country by 2013,” said Paderanga, who is also NEDA Director-General.
“In order to achieve rice sufficiency, the government actively supports the use of high quality seeds, the provision of production and marketing support to farmers, and the promotion of extensive partnership with localgovernment units and the private sector,” he added.
Meanwhile, imports of raw materials and intermediate goods contracted by 9.7 percent year-on-year in July 2011 due to lower payments for both semi-processed (-4.6%) and unprocessed (-38.2%) raw materials.
Payments for imported semi-proccessed inputs declined mainly due to the
37.7 percent year-on-year contraction in raw materials for the manufacture of electrical equipment. Also, the decrease in payments for imported unprocessed raw inputs was due to the 87.1 pecent decline in the imports of metaliferous ores.
However, imports of raw materials are expected to recover in the third and fourth quarters of 2011 due to the seasonal rise in domestic consumption and the normalization of production networks.
