January records trade deficit

• CPI ups 0.46% in January
• Earnings from key product exports fall in January
• Hanoi’s bus route change starts January 2

In the first month of 2017, the country imported US$14.7 billion and exported US$14.6 billion worth of commodities, down 14 and 12 percent compared to the figures for December 2016, respectively.

A number of major hard currency earners saw a drop in revenue in comparison with December. Phones and components felt 7.1 percent to US$2.5 billion, apparel, down 10.8 percent to US$2.05 billion, and computers-electronic devices, down 14.1 percent to US$1.6 billion.

Similar downward trend was seen in the import of key goods, with machinery and spare parts reporting a decrease of 15.3 percent to US$2.6 billion, while computers-electronic devices and petroleum products faced a respective drop of 10.3 and 32.7 percent from December of 2016 to US$2.25 billion and US$510 million.

The programme also highlights product quality improvement, trade promotion and market expansion.