Philippines imports down for second straight month in July, exports up

MANILA, Sept 12 (Reuters) - The Philippine Statistics Authority on Tuesday released data on July exports and imports. KEY DATA July June May April March Feb Total exports ($bln) 5.28 4.91 5.49 4.81 5.58 4.74 yr/yr chg (pct) 10.4 5.8 14.0 19.1 18.1 8.7 Electronics ($bln) 2.76 2.61 2.74 2.45 2.8 2.47 yr/yr chg (pct) 11.8 4.4 17.8 6.8 19 15.9 Total imports ($bln) 6.93 7.06 8.24 6.86 7.88 6.51 yr/yr chg (pct) -3.2 -1.3 16.6 -0.1 18.0 15.2 Electronics ($bln) 1.55 1.64 1.97 1.81 2.01 1.74 yr/yr chg (pct) -21.0 -8.4 12.9 -0.2 13.8 11.5 - Exports in the seven months to July rose 13.9 percent to $36.6 billion from a year ago, while imports were up 7.9 percent at $51.2 billion from a year ago. - The annual decline in imports was due to double-digit reduction in the shipment of iron and steel, electronic products and plastics in primary and non-primary forms. - The trade deficit of $1.65 billion in July was narrower than the previous month's $2.15 billion gap.