The national trade deficit reached $58 million in the first seven months of this year, representing only 0.09 percent of total export value, the General Statistics Office (GSO) has reported.
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| Goods are loaded from ships at Cat Lai port in HCM City |
GSO's Trade Department director Le Thi Minh Thuy said it reflected how the country's demand had declined, and attributed the situation to unstable financial and economic conditions both globally and domestically.
In the first seven months, total imports reached nearly $63 billion, up 7.3 percent over the same period last year. Domestic sectors imported $30.09 billion, down 7.3 percent, while the foreign -invested sector imported $32.9 billion, an increase of 25.3 percent.In July, for the first time this year, the country saw a trade surplus of $100 million thanks to significant declines in imports since June.
According to the GSO, import values of many materials and fuel used for production had grown insignificantly or decreased compared to the same period last year.
The value of fabric imported posted a slight increase of 0.3 percent reaching $3.96 billion, while automobile imports fell the most at 34.1 percent with a total value of nearly $1.2 billion.
Other articles witnessing import turnover declines included petroleum, down 8.7 percent; animal feed, falling 6.9 percent; textile fibre, down 14.9 percent; and iron and steel, decreasing 3.7 percent.
Meanwhile, exports totalled $62.93 billion in the first seven months of the year, up 19 percent over the same period last year, an increase of about 2.5 times that of import growth.
Electronic goods and spare parts were major exports with a total value amounting to $10.21 billion, of which computers expanded 81.3 percent and telephones soared by 151.6 percent.
While domestic sectors reached an export value of $23.89 billion, down 1.65 percent, foreign-invested businesses saw a 36.6 percent increase in exports with a total value of $39.41 billion.
