PHILIPPINE merchandise imports rose by double digits in August mostly because of higher purchases of fuel products, the National Statistics Office said on Tuesday.

Data from NSO showed that imports grew 10.4 percent to $4.93 billion in August from $4.461 billion in the same period last year.

On a month-on-month basis, imports fell by 1.5 percent from $4.99 billion last July.

In the first eight months, imports grew by 13.8 percent to $40.426 billion from $35.526 billion last year.

The country’s trade deficit in August stood at $804 million, bringing the eight-month tally to $7.12 billion.

Electronics, which accounted for about 28.3 percent of the total import bill, dropped by 15.2 percent to $1.39 billion in August from $1.65 billion last year.

Benjamin Diokno, economics professor at the University of the Philippines said the likelihood that imports will grow by 17 percent to 18 percent this year is fading fast.

“The biggest loser is the imports of cereals and cereal preparation which is not necessarily bad news. It supports the Aquino administration’s position that we have over-imported in the past,” Diokno said.

Imports of cereals and cereal preparations have shrunk by 49.6 percent, year to date.

“But such trend will have to be reversed soon. Rice imports will have to resume as a result of the damages to crops during the recent typhoons not only in the Philippines but for a large part of Southeast Asia. The costs of rice imports may inch up because of massive damages to crops in the rice exporting countries like Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia,” Diokno said.

He added that slower imports of electronic products is a leading indicator of slower exports of electronics, the Philippines’ top dollar-earner.

Imports of mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials jumped 55 percent to $985.21 million from $635.57 million last year.

Purchases of transport equipment reached $304.68 million in August, surging 40.1 percent from $217.52 million a year ago.

Industrial machinery and equipment imports rose to $269.41 million in August from $192.20 million last year.

Imports of plastics in primary and non-primary forms amounted to $170.97 million and organic and inorganic chemicals, $121.62 million.

Rounding up the list of the top 10 imports were iron and steel valued at $121.21 million; cereals and cereal preparations, $107.65 million; telecommunication equipment and electrical machinery including telecommunications and sound recording and reproducing apparatus and equipment, $95.84 million; and chemical materials and products, $75.37 million.

Payments for the country’s top 10 imports reached $3.646 billion, or 74 percent of the total import bill.

Japan was the Philippines’ biggest source of imports at $580.06 million, a decrease of 3.2 percent from $599.32 million last year.

People’s Republic of China was the second biggest at $521.71 million, increasing 41.1 percent from $369.81 million last year.

The US sold $485.55 million of goods to the Philippines, up from $473.82 million last year.