Vietnam ran US$140m trade deficit in June-customs

[HANOI] Vietnam posted a trade deficit of US$140 million in June, Vietnam Customs said on Wednesday, putting the deficit far low than the US$700 million estimated by the government.

June's exports were up 4.6 per cent from a month ago at $14.3 billion, while imports fell 3.2 per cent from May to US$14.46 billion, the customs department, controlled by the finance ministry, said in a report on its website. Vietnam ran a trade defici of $3.07 billion for the first half of 2015.

Exports in the first half rose 9.3 per cent from the same period last year to US$77.76 billion, while imports increased 16.7 per cent to US$80.84 billion, the report said. The government has projected exports to rise 10 per cent in the whole of 2015.

REUTERS