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Vietnam could achieve trade balance this year

04/10/2021    46

Vietnam could achieve trade balance, or even a trade surplus this year, deputy head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Agency of Foreign Trade Tran Thanh Hai told a regular press conference of the ministry in Hanoi on September 30.

In September, the country earned US$ 27 billion from exports, down 0.8% month-on-month and 0.6% year-on-year. It was also the second consecutive month that exports declined from the same period last year.

However, the nine-month figure still showed an 18.8% increase year on year to an estimated US$ 240.5 billion.

Meanwhile, import was estimated at US$26.5 billion in September, down 3.1% monthly, but the nine-month figure hiked by 30.5% annually to US$ 242.65 billion.

Given such situation, Vietnam ran a trade surplus of US$ 500 million in September and a deficit of US$ 2.13 billion in nine months of this year.

According to Hai, the current trade deficit is not a cause for concern, considering that trade deficit dropped to US$ 100 million in August after topping US$ 2 billion in July, and September saw the return of trade surplus.

Vietnam’s exports are in favourable conditions thanks to opportunities from free trade agreements and rising market demand during year’s end, especially for goods of the country’s strength. Therefore, if there is no major change in the pandemic situation, export activities in southern localities are expected to regain speed in the last quarter of the year, helping balance trade, and even bring a trade surplus, he said.

Source: Nhan Dan Online