This brought the trade deficit in February to $ 379 million, a sharp reversal from the $ 27-million surplus posted in the same period last year, the National Statistics Office said in a statement.

Total imports in the first two months of the year rose by 24.9 percent to $ 9.484 billion. This resulted in a trade deficit of $ 1.142 billion in January-February 2008, the statement added.

Electronic products, including components and semiconductors, made up 41.9 percent of total imports in February, posting a 9.8 percent growth year-on-year to 1.88 billion dollars.

Such components are largely used in the manufacture of electronics which make up the largest sector of the country’s exports.

Mineral fuels and other related products were the second largest import in February with 844.87 million dollars, a 55.6-percent increase over the same period last year.

George Ching of Citiseconline said that the growth in imports of electronics was a good sign, showing that the electronic export sector was still doing well despite signs of a recession in the United States, the country’s main export market.

"Imports for the oil component are pretty much expected but electronics is holding up quite well despite the expected slowdown of the US economy," he said.

He said the trade deficit was not a concern as the country’s balance of payments remained in surplus with millions of Filipinos working abroad remitting money back home.

"With commodity prices likely to stay elevated and demand for Philippine exports likely to soften, we expect a further narrowing of the country’s current account surplus," said Frederic Neumann, economist at HSBC.