Merchandise imports fell for the 12th consecutive month in September, dragged down by lower fuel prices and sluggish demand for raw materials, capital goods and consumer products.
The National Statistics Office yesterday reported that imports in September amounted to $3.67 billion, down 25 percent from the $4.891 billion recorded year-on-year.
It marked the 12th straight month of year-on-year contraction for imports, after registering a 1.3-percent growth in September last year.
Imports, however, grew 1.5 percent on a month-on-month basis in September, compared with August when imports stood at $3.617 billion.
With exports earlier placed at $3.636 billion, the country incurred a trade deficit of $34 million in September, although this was significantly lower than the $445 million booked during the same month last year.
The trade deficit reached $4.036 billion in the first nine months of the year, down from the $6.483-billion gap recorded a year earlier, as exports fell 28.9 percent to $27.641 billion while imports recorded a sharper drop of 30.2 percent to $31.677 billion.
Orders for electronics, representing 36.3 percent of the monthly import bill, were down 22.1 percent to $1.331 billion in September from a year ago.
“This was due to the 25.1- percent decrease in components/devices [semiconductors] which comprised the biggest share of 26.7 percent among the major groups of electronic products,” the NSO said.
However, NSO said electronic products showed an increase of 2.2 percent on a monthly basis from $1.302-billion receipts recorded in August.
Petroleum imports fell 30.6 percent to $681.73 million in September while purchases of transport equipment rose marginally by 0.1 percent to $221.36 million.
Inbound shipments of telecommunication equipment and electrical machinery amounted to $89.53 million during the month, up by 17.4 percent from its year ago level of $76.29 million.
By product category, orders for raw materials and intermediate goods dropped 24.5 percent to $1.356 billion while capital goods plummeted 15.7 percent to $1.18 billion. Purchases of consumer goods amounted to $410.74 million, down by 36.3 percent from $645.17 million.
