Philippines' imports rise 2.3pc in first half of 2007

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MANILA, Aug 25 (Xinhua): The Philippines' merchandise imports grew by 2.3 per cent to 25.3 billion US dollars for the first six months of 2007, the National Statistics Office (NSO) has said.
The NSO said imports payments rose 3.8 per cent to 4.71 billion US dollars in June after two months of negative growth, according to a report by The Manila Bulletin daily yesterday.
The growth in imports for June was powered by the recovery of electronics products, raw materials and imported goods, as well as the continued strong demand for consumer goods, said the report.
Imports of electronic products, comprising about 46.5 per cent of the total import bill, increased by 8.4 per cent as semiconductors recovered with 9.9 per cent growth.
The import figures brought the June trade deficit to 589 million US dollars, 22.9 per cent above the year-ago figure.