TOTAL TRADE UP BY 2.1 PERCENT

Declining value of imports failed to hamper the growth in the countrys total trade output as rising exports continued to offset the drop. Total trade settled at $15.158 billion, representing a growth of 2.1 percent from $14.853 billion a year ago. Total import bill for the first quarter stood at $7.305 billion, down by 9.1 percent from the year-ago level of $8.037 billion while export revenue swelled by 15.2 percent to $7.853 billion from $6.816 billion in 1998. The country's BOT-G surplus for the first quarter stood at $548 million, a 144.9 percent reversal from the deficit value of $1.221 billion recorded during the same period in 1998.

RP's two-way trade output for March 1999 reached $5.354 billion, an increase of 5.2 percent over the year-ago mark placed at $5.088 billion. Export revenue for the month in review grew by 9.2 percent to $2.702 billion, up from $2.474 billion while purchases of foreign-made merchandise inched up by only 1.5 percent to $2.652 billion from $2.614 billion. Trade balance for the month stood at a surplus level of $51.0 million.

ELECTRONICS AND COMPONENTS CORNER 23.2 PERCENT OF IMPORT BILL

Purchases of Electronics and Components, RP's top import with a 23.2 percent share, posted a 15.2 percent increase to $614.69 million from $533.67 million last year.

Accounting for 7.6 percent of the aggregate bill, payments for Telecommunication Equipment and Electrical Machinery dropped by 26.3 percent to $201.81 million from $273.96 million.

Third biggest import for the month consisted of Industrial Machinery and Equipment. Payments, accounting for 6.9 percent of the total, fell by 13.1 percent to $183.23 million from $210.83 million.

Mineral Fuels, Lubricants and Related Materials, with a 6.4 percent share, recorded purchases valued at $169.49 million for a 10.5 percent drop over last year's $189.32 million.

Materials/Accessories Imported on Consignment Basis for the Manufacture of Other Electrical and Electronic Machinery and Equipmentcomprised the country's fifth top import. Accounting for 6.1 percent of the total bill, payments reached $160.74 million, an annual drop of 9.3 percent compared to 1998's $177.30 million.

Office and EDP Machines accounting for 4.6 percent of the total, emerged as RP's sixth top import for the month with a combined value of $122.48 million or 26.3 percent lower than the previous level which stood at $166.26 million.

Rounding up the list of the top imports for March 1999 were: Textile Yarn, Fabrics, Made-up Articles and Related Products, $106.88 million;Transport Equipment, $83.07 million; Cereals and Cereal Preparations, $71.28 million; and, Iron and Steel, $66.90 million.

Aggregate payment for the country's top ten imports for the month amounted to $1.781 billion or 67.1 percent of the total bill.

RAW MATERIALS AND INTERMEDIATE GOODS ACCOUNT FOR 42.5 PERCENT

Raw Materials and Intermediate Goods accounted for 42.5 percent of the total value imports for the month as purchases rose by 10.8 percent to $1,128.21 million from $1,018.17 million last year.

Capital Goods accounted for the second biggest slice of the country's aggregate bill for the month placed at 36.6 percent. Consisting mainly ofTelecommunication Equipment and Electrical Machinery, payments fell by 11.0 percent year-on-year to $971.34 million from $1,091.03 million.

Purchases of Consumer Goods valued at $227.34 million, registered a 15.4 percent increase from $196.99 million in 1998.

Expenditures for Mineral Fuel and Lubricant went down by 10.5 percent to $169.49 million while payments for Special Transactions grew by 31.5 percent to $155.33 million.

US ACCOUNTS FOR 21.2 PERCENT

The United States, RP's biggest source of imports with a 21.2 percent share, reported sales valued at $560.99 million against purchases amounting to $856.37 million. Total trade reached $1.417 billion while trade surplus for RP stood at $295.38 million.

Purchases of goods from Japan accounted for 20.7 percent of the aggregate bill for the month. Dropping by 7.7 percent, payments settled at $549.48 million, down from $595.28 million a year back. Exports to Japan, on the other hand amounted to $397.81 million yielding a two-way trade figure of $947.29 million and a trade deficit for RP pegged at $151.67 million.

Third biggest source of imports for March was Republic of Korea. Expenditures for imports amounted to $200.56 million while revenue from RP's exports reached $74.34 million resulting to a two-way trade value of $274.90 million and a $126.22 million deficit for RP.

Other major sources of imports were: Taiwan, $144.84 million; Singapore, $143.45 million; China, People�s Republic of $121.45 million; Hongkong,$93.93 million; Malaysia, $80.03 million; Germany, $73.98 million; and, Australia, $64.48 million.

Payment for imports from the top ten sources for the month amounted to $2.033 billion or 76.7 percent of the total.

UNCOLLECTED DOCUMENTS

As of presstime 96 out of 76,857 export documents and 89 out of 99,586 import documents are still expected from the ports.

Source: National Statistics Office
               Manila, Philippines