Vietnam is forecast to incur a trade deficit of US$2.108 billion in the first half of this year, far lower than the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s recent estimate (MoIT) of US$3.07 billion, the government’s General Statistics Office (GSO) said on June 25.
The trade gap in the first half falls sharply from the US$14.211 billion trade deficit of the same period last year.
Vietnam is projected to reap $27.612 billion from exported goods during the time, down 10.1 per cent on-year, and spend $29.72 billion on imports, an on-year fall of 34.1 per cent, said the GSO.
In June, the country is likely to see an on-month export increase of 6.45 per cent to $4.7 billion, and an on-month import rise of 4.07 per cent to $5.9 billion.
Gemstones, precious metals and jewelry are up 633.4 per cent to $2.605 billion, and rice exports have seen an on-year increase of 24.1 per cent to $1.816 billion during the first half.
Meanwhile, most of Vietnam’s major exports are estimated to face on-year value decreases such as apparel down 1.3 per cent to $4.075 billion, crude oil down 41.5 per cent to $3.31 billion, footwear down 8.8 per cent to $2.065 billion, and seafood down 10.7 per cent to $1.703 billion.
Vietnam’s import staples of machines and equipment, petroleum products, steel and iron, and cloth, are also forecast to fall by 19.2 per cent, 54.2 per cent, 54.7 per cent, and 10.7 per cent to $5.34 billion, $2.95 billion, $2.127 billion and $1.976 billion, respectively.
The country is estimated to import $72.6 billion worth of commodities and export $64.57 billion worth of commodities this year, down 10 per cent and up 3 per cent on-year, respectively, said the MOIT. (GSO June 2009, Labor, Saigon Marketing)
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