Vietnam may post $500m trade surplus this year
Vietnam could post a trade surplus of $500 million this year, a state-run newspaper reported, citing revised government forecasts, as it seeks to reduce its reliance on imports from neighbouring China amid an ongoing diplomatic row.
The trade ministry forecast exports would rise 10.6 per cent from 2013 to $146 billion, while imports could increase 10.2 per cent to $145.5 billion, the trade ministry-run Industry and Commerce newspaper cited the ministry’s forecasts as showing.
The revised forecast follows a reported trade surplus of $1.3 billion in the first half. In January, the ministry projected an annual trade deficit of $8.6 billion.
An annual surplus this year would be the third in a row for Vietnam, which posted its first surplus in two decades in 2012.
Rising exports in 2012–2013 and a steady inflow of overseas remittances have helped swing Vietnam’s trade balance to a surplus and boosted its foreign reserves to $30 billion in January from $9 billion in 2011, central bank data show.
Hanoi had earlier projected its exports this year to slow 10 per cent from 2013 to $145.4 billion, after a 15.4 per cent rise in 2013, while imports would rise 17.3 per cent to $154 billion.
In June, Vietnam devalued its currency for the first time in a year, lowering the interbank midpoint rate for trading its dong currency by 1 per cent, saying that the move should help exports, its main economic driver.
Vietnam’s GDP grew 5.42 per cent last year, one of the fastest rates in the region, but the $170 billion economy remains fragile, dependent on external markets and still grappling with toxic debt, bankruptcies and weak retail spending.
It has targeted 5.8 per cent growth this year. Economists have said tension at sea between Vietnam and China could reduce Vietnam’s GDP value by 10 per cent this year
Vietnam could post a trade surplus of $500 million this year, a state-run newspaper reported, citing revised government forecasts, as it seeks to reduce its reliance on imports from neighbouring China amid an ongoing diplomatic row. The trade ministry forecast exports would rise 10.6 per cent from 2013 to $146 billion, while imports could increase 10.2 per cent to $145.5 billion, the trade ministry-run Industry and Commerce newspaper cited the ministry’s forecasts as showing. The revised forecast follows a reported trade surplus of $1.3 billion in the first half. In January, the ministry projected an annual trade deficit of $8.6...
Vietnam could post a trade surplus of $500 million this year, a state-run newspaper reported, citing revised government forecasts, as it seeks to reduce its reliance on imports from neighbouring China amid an ongoing diplomatic row.
The trade ministry forecast exports would rise 10.6 per cent from 2013 to $146 billion, while imports could increase 10.2 per cent to $145.5 billion, the trade ministry-run Industry and Commerce newspaper cited the ministry’s forecasts as showing.
The revised forecast follows a reported trade surplus of $1.3 billion in the first half. In January, the ministry projected an annual trade deficit of $8.6 billion.
An annual surplus this year would be the third in a row for Vietnam, which posted its first surplus in two decades in 2012.
Rising exports in 2012–2013 and a steady inflow of overseas remittances have helped swing Vietnam’s trade balance to a surplus and boosted its foreign reserves to $30 billion in January from $9 billion in 2011, central bank data show.
Hanoi had earlier projected its exports this year to slow 10 per cent from 2013 to $145.4 billion, after a 15.4 per cent rise in 2013, while imports would rise 17.3 per cent to $154 billion.
In June, Vietnam devalued its currency for the first time in a year, lowering the interbank midpoint rate for trading its dong currency by 1 per cent, saying that the move should help exports, its main economic driver.
Vietnam’s GDP grew 5.42 per cent last year, one of the fastest rates in the region, but the $170 billion economy remains fragile, dependent on external markets and still grappling with toxic debt, bankruptcies and weak retail spending.
It has targeted 5.8 per cent growth this year. Economists have said tension at sea between Vietnam and China could reduce Vietnam’s GDP value by 10 per cent this year
