Vietnam's merchandise trade balance in surplus in early 2022

23 Feb '22

2 min read

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Vietnam’s merchandise trade balance is in surplus despite an export slowdown, while foreign direct investment (FDI) commitment and disbursement witnessed a robust start this year, according to the ‘Vietnam Macro Monitoring’ monthly report released by the World Bank. All major mobility indicators rose sharply ahead of the Lunar New Year on February 1.

The country’s vaccination coverage surpassed 73 per cent of the population.

Industrial production continued to witness strong growth, though at a slower pace and with a mixed performance across various sub-sectors, while retail sales posted the first positive annual growth rate since the COVID-19 outbreak hit the nation back in late April last year.

The country attracted $2.1 billion of FDI commitments in January, an increase of 4.2 per cent on-year. Growth was driven by large investment in the expansion of existing businesses, particularly in electronics, and through active merger and acquisition activities.

The latter doubled in value in January compared to a year ago, reaching over $400 million, equivalent to a fifth of total FDI commitments, the World Bank report said.

Manufacturing continued to make up roughly three-fifths of total commitments, followed by real estates with 22.5 per cent. In addition, the disbursement of approved FDI projects continued to recover from their slump in the third quarter of 2021, thereby increasing by 6.8 per cent year on year in January.

Rising energy prices continued to be the main contributor to consumer price index inflation, while food prices remained consistently stable as they kept inflation in check.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)

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