Vietnam, which has determined to continue applying technical barriers this year to curb the prolonged trade deficit, spent $10 billion on imports of luxury items last year.
Of the sum, imports of wines, cigarettes, jewelries and mobile phones accounted for around $9 billion, the newspaper cited the government’s General Statistics Office as saying.
The figure was high as compared to the country’s trade deficit of $12.375 billion last year, indicating that imports of luxury products have put heavy burden on the country’s trade balance, local economists said.
Le Dang Doanh, an independent economist and former government adviser, attributed the situation to the fact that Vietnamese people are fond of foreign-made products, calling on the government to take measures to restrict imports of such products.
Given recent shortage of U.S. dollar which has badly affected the country’s macroeconomic stability, Doanh proposed to apply more non-tariff barriers and raise the special consumption tax to ease local demand for foreign-made products.
Sharing the same view with Doanh, economist Nguyen Minh Phong said the government could request local banks to limit U.S. dollar lending to importers of high-end products or even allow local firms to make payment in other currencies, instead of U.S. dollar only, for their luxury imports.
Doan Hong Quang, a World Bank’s specialist in Vietnam, earlier said the country imported luxury items while its export products remain basic goods such as rice, seafood, garments and textiles, and crude oil.
“It is impossible to avoid a trade deficit as we received VND9 from exports and spent VND10 on imports plus money spent on machines,” Quang said. Vietnam should impose higher taxes on luxury items, he added.
Nguyen Dinh Cung, deputy head of the Central Institute for Economic Management, said “We need long-term plans including income control, creating investment opportunities and encouraging savings to avoid a trade deficit.” (Young People)
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