MANILA - Philippine imports rose 5.1 percent in January from a year earlier to $3.681 billion due largely to higher oil prices, the National Statistics Office said yesterday.

This resulted in the trade deficit in January hitting $415 million, almost double the $207 million in the same period last year, the NSO said in a statement.

Earlier, the government announced that exports in January had fallen 0.9 percent year-on-year to $3.266 billion.

Electronic components, used in the manufacture of electronic products for export, accounted for 42.9 percent of total imports in January or $1.58 billion. However this was a 7.9 percent reduction over the same period last year.

Imports of mineral fuels and lubricants however made up for this, rising 66.3 percent over the same period last year to hit $681.11 million, the statistics office said. This amounted to 18.5 percent of total imports.

The United States was the biggest source of imports accounting for $602.36 million or 10.6 percent of the total. Japan was the second largest with $491.57 million or 13.4 percent of the total.*AFP

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