Vietnam trade falls back to deficit in August

HANOI: Vietnam is expecting an $800 million trade deficit in August after gold exports slumped and oil and gas imports soared, a state-run news website quoted the government's statistics office as saying on Monday.

August imports totaled $9.1 billion while exports reached $8.3 billion, the news website of the Global Analysis and Forecast Institute, Gafin.vn, reported. The website is an affiliate of Vietnam's foreign investment association.

Vietnam recorded a $1.1 billion trade surplus in July, its first in more than two years, as exports of gold skyrocketed on the back of rising global gold prices, the customs department said last week.

In August, the gold and gemstones exports category was estimated to have dropped back down to $200 million, falling 82 percent from July when they hit $1.12 billion, Gafin.vn quoted the General Statistics Office as saying.

Imports of oil and gas, meanwhile, leapt to $976 million in August, nearly twice the amount in July, it said.

The trade deficit for the first eight months of the year was $6.22 billion, it said.

Copyright Reuters, 2011