Vietnam sees 61 mln USD trade deficit in 2 months: ministry

As of the end of February 2015, Vietnam saw a trade deficit of 61 million U.S. dollars, compared to a trade surplus of 1.35 billion U.S. dollars during the same period of 2014, according to Vietnam's Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) on Tuesday.

Latest statistics by the MoIT showed that, in the two-month period, Vietnam earned some 23 billion U.S. dollars from exports, up 8.6 percent year-on-year.

Among those, domestic sector contributed seven billion U.S. dollars, up 0.7 percent year-on-year while that of foreign- invested sector hit 16 billion U.S. dollars, up 12.4 percent year- on-year.

Export items with increasing revenue compared to the same period last year include computers, electronic products and accessories, pepper, footwear, garment, cell phones, machines, equipments and spare parts among others.

In the first two months, the country spent over 23 billion U.S. dollars on imports, up 16.3 percent year-on-year, according to the MoIT.

In February, the country's trade surplus was 300 million U.S. dollars, while it suffered a trade deficit of 361 million U.S. dollars in January, causing Vietnam to have a trade deficit of 61 million U.S. dollars in two-month period, said the MoIT.