HANOI, June 2 (Xinhua\/APP):Vietnam’s economy has yet to bottom out despite a series of stimulus measures to bolster business confidence, Vietnam News reported on Friday.<\/p>\n
Vietnam’s exports in May extended the decline by a further 5.86 percent from a year ago, though at a slower pace than an annual contraction of 17.2 percent in April, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).<\/p>\n
The Southeast Asian country’s exports have tumbled since last November, with a brief rebound in February, in the face of weaker demand abroad, adding urgency for support measures from the government, analysts said.<\/p>\n
“There is no clear sign that Vietnam has bottomed out amid intensifying headwinds to growth,” HSBC said in a report. “Indeed, sluggish external data remains the biggest downside risk to growth.”<\/p>\n
The data showed Vietnam’s trade surplus with the U.S., its largest export market, narrowed 22 percent to 31.2 billion U.S. dollars in the first five months from a year ago.<\/p>\n
Steep falls in exports included furniture, seafood, clothing, footwear and smartphones, which are the biggest foreign currency earners for the country.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Vietnam’s imports plummeted 18.4 percent in May, extending the downward trend seen over the last seven months.<\/p>\n
Since imports contracted at a much faster pace than its exports, Vietnam’s trade surplus widened to 2.24 billion dollars in May, twice the monthly average last year, data showed.<\/p>\n
A widening trade surplus has partly kept the Vietnamese dong stable against the U.S. dollar so far this year, said HSBC.<\/p>\n
“However, given Vietnam’s import-intensive nature of the manufacturing sector, the extreme weakness in imports signals a sluggish rebound in future exports,” HSBC noted.<\/p>\n
About 94 percent of Vietnam’s imports are raw materials and equipment for production in the first five months of the year, according to the latest data released by the GSO.<\/p>\n
Vietnam’s industrial output in May slightly rebounded by 2.2 percent from a year earlier, compared with an annual fall of 2.4 percent in April, said the GSO.<\/p>\n
Despite such softer conditions, the S&P Global Vietnam Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index fell to 45.3 in May, well below the 50.0 threshold that separates expansion from contraction in manufacturing activity, marking a third straight month of declines.<\/p>\n
One bright spot is the sector of retail sales and services, which grew 11.5 percent in May, partially offsetting external headwinds. But there is a clear divergence between big-ticket items, such as auto sales and tourism services, said HSBC.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
HANOI, June 2 (Xinhua\/APP):Vietnam’s economy has yet to bottom out despite a series of stimulus measures to bolster business confidence, Vietnam News reported on Friday. Vietnam’s exports in May extended the decline by a further 5.86 percent from a year ago, though at a slower […]<\/p>\n
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