MoT Revises Trade Deficit down to US$5Bln This Year

Vietnam’s 2005 trade deficit this will fall by US$500 million year-on-year to around US$5 billion, according to the latest forecast of the Ministry of Trade (MoT).

 

Exports are expected to grow 21.1 per cent to US$31.5 billion while imports rise 15.8 per cent to some US$36.5 billion, leaving a trade deficit of US$5 billion, the MoT said.

 

The new prediction was down from the US$6.5 billion level that the MoT gave out in August.

 

High export growth this year is considered the main factor for the sliding trade deficit, said a ministry official.

 

Figures from the General Statistics Office show the country earned US$26.45 billion from exports in the first ten months of this year, a year-on-year increase of 21.9 per cent, while import bill in the period amounted to US$30.5 billion, up 19.2 per cent against a year earlier period. Therefore, the January-October trade deficit was US$4.04 billion.

 

The bulk of the import bill was still borne by local companies, which shows that the domestic sector has failed to make the most of the opportunities brought by import tax cuts by a number of countries, the official said.

 

Vietnam reported a trade surplus with the EU and the US, but suffered a trade deficit with Asian and Southeast Asian countries.