Vietnam estimates trade deficit at 8.78 bln dlrs
Par Vietnam aujourd'hui le mardi 27 octobre 2009, 08:39 - News in english - Lien permanent
HANOI — Vietnam on Tuesday estimated its trade deficit for the first ten months had almost halved from the same period last year.
Hanoi said the shortfall between exports and imports was 8.78 billion dollars from January to the end of October, compared with 16.2 billion in 2008.
Exports for the period fell 13.8 percent year on year to 46.33 billion dollars, while imports were 21.7 percent off at 55.11 billion dollars.
The General Statistics Office forecast imports of petroleum products were down 47.9 percent and sales of crude oil also dropped by 43 percent.
In the period, imports of steel decreased by 30.7 percent while spending machinery and equipment for production were also sliding by 13 percent.
According to the GSO's preliminary report, in October alone, Vietnam's trade deficit was estimated at 1.9 billion dollars.
The government last week projected a decade-low 5.2 percent growth for the economy this year, while Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said his cabinet targeted growth of around 6.5 percent for 2010.
Agence France Presse - October 27, 2009
