Vietnam reported an estimated trade deficit of 176 millionUSD in the first two months of the year, according to the General StatisticsOffice of Vietnam (GSO).

Vietnam reports an estimated trade deficit of 176 million USD in the first two months of the year - Photo: vneconomy.vn

 The domestic economic sector posted a deficit of 3.94billion USD while the foreign-invested sector (including crude oil) grossed asurplus of 3.76 billion USD.

The GSO said that total export revenue duringJanuary-February picked up 2.4 percent year-on-year to 36.92 billion USDdespite the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, partly thanks to Samsung's exportof its new mobile phone model S20. 

Products with high export value included telephone and spareparts (6.9 billion USD, up 2.3 percent); electronic products, computers andcomponents (5.4 billion USD, up 26.7 percent); machinery and equipment (3billion USD, up 19.6 percent); and footwear (2.7 billion USD, up 3 percent).

Meanwhile, export revenue of several farm producefell such as seafood (921 million USD, down 17.7 percent); coffee (497 millionUSD, decreasing 9.8 percent), vegetables and fruits (481 million USD, falling17.4 percent); cashew nut (315 million USD, dwindling 19.3 percent); and pepperbean (81 million USD, dropping 18.8 percent). Rice is an exception, earning 372million USD, up 20.5 percent.

The US remained the largest importer of Vietnam, splashing9.8 billion USD on Vietnamese commodities, surging 19.6 percent from the sametime last year.

Revenues from exports to China increased by 3.7 percent to4.8 billion USD and to Japan by 8.9 percent to 3.2 billion USD) while the valueof exports to the EU and ASEAN dropped by 7.7 percent to 5 billion USD), and9.3 percent to 3.5 billion USD, respectively.

During the period, Vietnam’s import revenue inched up 2.4percent to 37.1 billion USD, with high-value imports including electronicproducts, computers and spare parts (8.6 billion USD); equipment, tools andcomponents (5.3 billion USD); and telephones and components (2.1 billion USD).

Vietnam imported 10 billion USD worth of products from Chinain the two months, falling 0.4 percent from a year ago. It spent 4.5 billionUSD on goods from ASEAN, 2.8 billion USD on goods from Japan, 2.1 billion USDon EU products and 2.1 billion USD on US goods.

Source: VNA