China is the largest exporter of goods to Vietnam in January when the country reports a trade deficit of 100 million USD. (Photo: ndh.vn) Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Vietnamreported a trade deficit of 100 million USD in January, according to theGeneral Statistics Office (GSO).
The GSO said the country’sexports reached 19 billion USD in January, a year-on-year drop of 15.8 percentwhile its imports hit 19.1 billion USD, a decrease of 14.4 percent.
The domestic sector reported anestimated trade deficit of 2.4 billion USD while the foreign direct investment(FDI) sector posted a trade surplus of 2.3 billion USD.
Goods that still witnessedincreases included electronics, computers and components (2.6 billion USD, up5.6 percent), and timber and wooden products (1 billion USD, up 1.4 percent).
Meanwhile, the exports oftextiles and garments dropped by 21 percent to 2.6 billion USD, phones andtheir parts also worth 2.6 billion USD, down 22.4 percent; and footwear worth 1.6billion USD, down 9.7 percent.
This month, importers spent 3.7billion USD on electronics, computers and parts, down 8.5 percent from last January.They also spent 3.2 billion USD on machinery, equipment and components and 1.1billion USD on phones and parts, as much as the reduction of 6.8 percent anddown 9.5 percent respectively from last January.
Dropping 7.6 percent in theimport from Vietnam in January, the US still remained the country’s largestexport market spending 4.8 billion USD. Following were China with 3.7 billionUSD, up 32.8 percent and the European Union with 2.6 billion USD, down 30.8 percent.
Also declining 7.1 percent in exportsto Vietnam, China was the largest supplier with 6.2 billion USD of goods inJanuary. Followers were the Republic of Korea with 3.2 billion USD and ASEANwith a combined value of 2.4 billion USD as much as the reduction of 22.8 percentand 10.8 percent, respectively compared to last January.
Experts said import and exportactivities were often influenced by the long holidays, especially the Lunar NewYear that always sees a sharp rise in consumer goods imports, leading to atrade deficit./.
VNA
