Consumer price gains slowed for a fourth month to 1.48% year-on-year in November on declines in fuel, travel and transportation costs, data from the statistics office showed. Trade surplus was estimated to have narrowed to $600 million this month, it said.

Key Insights

Exports climbed 8.8% in November compared to a year ago
For January-to-November, exports increased 5.3%, boosting the country’s trade surplus to a record high of $20.1 billion for the period
Imports rose 13.4% in November from a year earlier
Exports this year reached $254.6 billion; imports, $234.5 billion
Exports to the U.S. up 25.7% in 11 months

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Earlier this month, Vietnam joined 14 other countries, including China, Japan and South Korea, in signing the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, the world’s biggest trade deal. RCEP will create a large market for Vietnamese exports and help Vietnam lure more foreign investment, while enhancing policies to boost export-oriented production, Trade and Industry Minister Tran Tuan Anh said in a posting on the government’s website
The International Monetary Fund said Nov. 17, after consultations with Vietnamese leaders, that Vietnam’s economy is expected to grow 2.4% this year, with its growth rate “among the highest in the world thanks to its decisive steps to contain the health and economic fallout from Covid-19”
Earlier this month the National Assembly approved the cabinet’s 2021 economic growth target of 6%, with an inflation target of 4%
National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien said Vietnam must curb illegal re-routing of Chinese exports and purchase more U.S. goods to avoid punitive American tariffs

By Nguyen Dieu Tu Uyen and Nguyen Kieu Giang @ Bloomberg