Vietnam’s exports in April are estimated to have risen 10.6 per cent from a year earlier to $30.94 billion, led by shipments of electronics, while industrial output in the month rose an annual 6.3 per cent, government data showed on Monday.
The Southeast Asian country, a regional manufacturing hub, relies heavily on exports for its economic growth.
Imports in April are estimated to have risen 19.9 per cent to $30.26 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of $680 million for the month, the General Statistics Office (GSO) said in a report.
For the January-April period, exports rose 15.0 per cent from a year earlier to $123.64 billion, while imports were up 15.4 per cent to $115.24 billion, the GSO said. This translated into a trade surplus of $8.4 billion for the four months.
Consumer prices in April rose 4.4 per cent from a year earlier, the GSO said, and retail sales increased an annual 9.0 per cent.
Shipments of electronics in April rose 32.6 per cent from a year earlier to $5.3 billion, according to the GSO. Smartphone exports in the month rose 9.1 per cent to $4.2 billion.
Vietnam is targeting gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 6.0 per cent to 6.5 per cent this year, faster than its expansion of 5.05 per cent last year.
Last week, the World Bank forecast Vietnam’s GDP growth for this year at 5.5 per cent, while Standard Chartered cut its forecast to 6.0 per cent from 6.7 per cent on lower-than-expected growth in the first quarter and global trade headwinds.
Reuters
