Huge imports by state sector dent Vietnam's trade balance

Notably, the shortfall was 3.6 times higher than the country's trade deficit, the General Statistics Office of Vietnam recently reported. That means surpluses gained by other sectors failed to offset the deficit among SOEs.  

The state sector's exports fell 2.5% from the same period last year to US$31.7 billion, while its imports went up 7.7% to US$44.7 billion.

On the other hand, the foreign direct investment sector saw a trade surplus of US$9.4 billion after exports and imports increased by 14.7% and 23.2%, respectively, according to the report.

Vietnam's exports increased by 9% year-on-year to US$106.3 billion, while imports rose 16.4% to US$109.9 billion.

With a year-on-year rise of 80.2% to US$3.8 billion, automobiles were one of the imports that strongly increased in the January-August period, while mobile phones and their spare parts were up 36.6% to US$7.1 billion.

Local production and consumption "hugely" relied on imported materials, the statistics office said in its latest report.

Vietnam is now under big pressure to control its trade deficit for the rest of the year, as export revenues have been falling due to sharp declines in crude oil prices, according to the office.

Moreover, the world demand is decreasing as an impact of China's economic situation, making it difficult for exports to rise, it added.

Previously many foreign and local reports forecast that Vietnam will see a trade deficit of US$6 billion this year, after posting surpluses for three consecutive years since 2012.