Vietnam's trade gap widens this month<\/p>\n
HANOI (Reuter): Vietnam's trade gap widened this month as a
\nrun of strong export growth lost some momentum, while industrial
\nproduction was brisk but remained on a downward trend, General
\nStatistics Office data showed yesterday.<\/p>\n
The statistics office said the trade deficit for the first
\nnine months of this year was estimated at US$1.813 billion after
\na gap of $1.721 billion in the January-August period.<\/p>\n
There were no direct comparisons for the same period of 1996,
\nthough the deficit for January-September 10 of last year was
\nalmost double the latest figure at a record $3.537 billion.<\/p>\n
The deficit for the whole of 1996 was $4.0 billion, equivalent
\nto around 17 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).<\/p>\n
Alarmed by a sudden surge in imports last year, the government
\nimposed higher tariffs, lower import quotas and temporary bans on
\nsome items such as construction steel and sugar.<\/p>\n
Western economists say that Hanoi, which has committed itself
\nto joining the ASEAN free trade area (AFTA) within 10 years, will
\nonly make sustainable inroads into its trade deficit by
\nliberalizing its trade regime and modernizing its state sector.<\/p>\n
They say that structural rigidities which remain despite more
\nthan a decade of reform along market lines, combined with a
\nslowdown in foreign investment, are now putting a brake on
\neconomic growth.<\/p>\n
The statistics office said industrial output grew at a
\nyear-on-year rate of 12.8 percent in the first nine months of
\nthis year compared with 13.5 percent in the same period of 1996.<\/p>\n
The latest production figure confirmed a steady downtrend of
\nrecent months, though the statistics office predicted that output
\nover the whole year would grow at 13.2 percent.<\/p>\n
Figures released on Wednesday showed that consumer prices rose
\nby 4.0 percent in the year through September.<\/p>\n
Government minister Lai Van Cu, predicting that consumer
\nprices would rise by less than 4.0 percent in 1997, told a news
\nconference last week that an inflation rate of less than five
\npercent was "unhealthy" for a developing economy.<\/p>",
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