HANOI- Vietnam’s exports in November likely rose 18.5 percent from a year earlier to $29.9 billion, government data showed on Monday.
Meanwhile, imports in November were estimated up 20.8 percent to $29.8 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of $100 million for the month, the General Statistics Office (GSO) said in a statement.
For the first 11 months of 2021, exports likely rose 17.5 percent year-on-year to $299.67 billion and imports by 27.5 percent to $299.45 billion, translating into a trade surplus of $220 million.
Vietnam’s industrial production index in November rose 5.6 percent from a year earlier, the GSO said, adding that consumer prices in the month rose 1.84 percent year on year.
Vietnam’s exports are likely to rise 10.7 percent in 2021, with annual inflation expected below 4 percent, the prime minister earlier said, promising lawmakers that economic revival lay ahead.
Pham Minh Chinh told the national assembly that Vietnam, consistently one of Asia’s fastest-growing economies, had been badly hit by the coronavirus, which disrupted its supply chains and hit workers in key industries.
Vietnam’s gross domestic product (GDP) contracted 6.17 percent in the third quarter of 2021 from a year earlier as the containment measures hit, the sharpest quarterly decline on record.
Chinh said he expected GDP to expand 6.0 percent to 6.5 percent next year, with the government aiming to cap inflation at 4 percent.
“Realising 2022 targets is a heavy task, but we definitely will revive our economy,” he said, despite the pandemic having put macroeconomic stability at risk.
“Inflation is facing upward risks and there have been disruptions in the supply chains … workers’ lives have been badly hit.”
Although Vietnam had largely reined in COVID-19 until May, a fast-spreading outbreak of the Delta variant in its economic hub of Ho Chi Minh City led to wide curbs on movement and commerce, hitting key manufacturing provinces nearby.
This month, the government said Vietnam would miss its garment exports target this year, by $5 billion in the worst case, hit by curbs and a shortage of workers.
It expected $34 billion of textile exports, shy of the targeted $39 billion, and a shortage of 35 percent to 37 percent of factory workers by year-end, it said.
Ho Chi Minh City has suffered a mass exodus of workers since lockdowns eased last month, on worries they would get stuck again if there was another wave of infections.
