Vietnam trade deficit likely at US$7.44B in Jan-July

Vietnam’s trade deficit is estimated to have risen to US$1.15 billion in July, widening the seven-month gap to US$7.44 billion, according to the government’s General Statistics Office.

The Jan-Jul deficit has made up 19.44% of the country’s total exports in the period, compared to the National Assembly’s full-year cap of 20%.

The Southeast Asian country has earned US$38.266 from exports so far this year, rising 15.5% from a year earlier, while its imports rose 25.5% on-year to US$45.71 billion.

In July, the country’s exports have fallen 8.23% from the previous month to US$5.8 billion. The imports, meanwhile, dropped 1.54%.

The decrease in export revenues was attributed to an on-month fall of 97.26% in precious stone and metal export revenues at US$15 million.

Vietnam’s trade deficit is forecast to widen to around US$13 billion in 2010 compared to an earlier estimate of US$12.2 billion, the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT)’s Export and Import Department told an online meeting June 8.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment, however, is more pessimistic, projecting a full-year deficit of US$15 billion.

Economists have concerned that widening trade deficit is posing big challenges for the Vietnamese government’s effort to sustain economic growth in the rest of this year. (GSO)

Tags: Vietnam trade, Vietnam trade deficit 2010

Posted by VBN on Aug 1 2010. Filed under Import-Export. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry