VIETNAM’S trade surplus in August is likely to have widened to US$3.5 bil (RM14.6 bil) from a US$2.8 bil surplus in July, while industrial production in the month contracted 0.6% from a year earlier, government data released yesterday showed.
Exports in August probably rose 2.5% from a year earlier to US$26.5 bil, while imports were likely to stand up 2.8% to US$23 bil, the General Statistics Office (GSO) said in a statement.
Vietnam typically releases statistics data before the end of the reporting period, and the GSO’s trade data is often subject to significant revision.
For the first eight months of this year, exports probably increased 1.6% from a year earlier to US$174.11 bil, while imports fell 2.2% to US$162.21 bil, for a trade surplus of US$11.9 bil, the GSO said.
The GSO said consumer prices rose 3.18% in the month from a year earlier, adding that average consumer prices in the January-August period rose 3.96% on the year.
Average industrial production index in the first eight months of this year rose 2.2% from a year earlier. – Aug 30, 2020, Reuters
