Vietnam is forecast to incur a trade deficit of USD9 billion this year, accounting for around 7% of the country’s total export revenue, one ministry said.
Increased in imports show improvement in the economy
The Ministry of Industry and Trade said the rate is a bit lower than the figure estimated by the National Assembly (NA) and the government which was forecast at 8%.
According to the ministry, Vietnam’s economy has been gradually improving through as the year progresses, along with the world economy. They added that this gives hopes to increased growth and exports.
As a result, the ministry forecast that the country would gain export revenues of USD127 billion for this year, up around USD1 billion compared to the target set by the NA and the government.
Export revenues reached USD62 billion in the first half of this year, up 16% from the same period last year.
In order to realise the country's export target, revenue from exports will have to increase by USD10.67 billion in the last half of the year.
The country imported over USD62.4 billion worth of goods in the first half of the year, up 17.4% on year. This has brought the country’s trade deficit to USD1.4 billion during this six-month period, equal to 2.3% of its export revenues.
The ministry also noted that imports by domestic enterprises were up 6.3% between January and June, giving proof of positive development for the economy at large.
At the top of the list of imported products were mobile phones imports during the six-month period.
The ministry added that market demand could be expected to improve in the second half of the year.