Vietnam's 10-month trade gap to double
HANOI - Vietnam's trade deficit will more than double to $9 billion in the first 10 months of 2007 due to a 30.5 percent surge in imports, a state-run newspaper reported on Thursday.
January to October imports rose to an estimated $48 billion while exports brought in $39 billion, up 18.6 percent from a year earlier, the Vietnam News newspaper quoted government figures as showing.
Vietnam's main export during the period was 12.4 million tonnes of crude oil, which earned $6.65 billion, followed by textiles which earned $6.4 billion.
However, the country spent $5.85 billion on importing refined oil products, the newspaper said.
The government expects a wider trade deficit this year as foreign investment has been pouring in since Vietnam joined the World Trade Organisation in January.
A National Assembly report said on Monday consumer goods would account for only $1 billion of this year's expected $9 billion trade deficit. The rest would come from spending on machinery and technology, it said.
Reuters - October 25, 2007.
|