Vietnam Trade Deficit Narrows to US$7.53B in Jan-Aug: Customs Dept.

The General Department of Customs has said Vietnam’s trade deficit narrowed to US$7.53 billion in the first eight months of this year, down from US$8.155 billion estimated by the General Statistics Office in late August.

 

The figure accounted for 16.6% of the country’s total export value during the period, compared to the National Assembly’s cap of 20% for the whole year.

 

The Southeast Asian nation exported US$45.4 billion worth of goods between Jan and Aug, up 22.1% on-year versus the GSO’s estimate at US$ US$44.521 billion, up 19.7%.

 

The department added that Vietnam spent US$52.93 billion on imports, up 25% on-year, compared to the GSO’s estimated figure of US$52.676 billion, up 24.4%.

 

Vietnam’s exports and imports rose 13.7% on-year to US$6.86 billion and 3.5% to US$7.25 billion in August, respectively, resulting in the country’s trade gap of US$395 million, the lowest monthly deficit year to date.

 

The Ministry of Planning and Investment forecast Vietnam’s exports and imports will increase 18.2% and 16.5% to US$67.5 billion and US$81.5 billion in 2010, respectively.

 

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Industry and Trade gave more optimistic forecast about the country’s trade value at a meeting on Sept 6, state media reported, noting that Vietnam will fetch US$68.5 billion from exports and spend between US$80 billion and US$82 billion on imports this year. (customs.gov.vn, GSO August Edition)