This is the third time this year the figure has been brought lower than the target 20% of the export revenue set by the National Assembly. In Jan-August, Vietnam exported $44.52 billion worth of goods, up 19.7% from a year ago while the country spent $52.68 billion to import goods, up 24.4% on year.
Vietnam incurred a trade gap of $8.15 billion or 18.3% of the export revenue in the first eight months of this year, the online newspaper Chinhphu.vn reported on August 24 citing the Government Statistics Office (GSO).
In August alone, the deficit was $900 million in August from a revised $978 million in July after the country exported $6 billion worth of goods, down 0.5% on month, but up 29.8% on year and spent $6.9 billion to import goods, down 1.53% from June.
This is the third month the country export has reached $6 billion. However, GSO did not give any figure of export sectors.
Staples which saw the highest import increase are material (+79.9%), plastic material (+38.1%), computers and components, electronics (31.5%), clothes (+ 26.6%), machine and equipment (+14.9%),
Oppositely, fertilizer products and car saw a decline in import revenue, down 30.5% and 10.8% respectively on year.
The trade deficit may increase further toward the end of the year due to machinery imports as the economy recovers, Le Xuan Nghia, vice chairman of Vietnams National Financial Supervision Commission, said at a seminar in Hanoi last week.
Source: fpts.com.vn