Economists warn of devaluation due to record Vietnam trade deficit

[M&C]Hanoi - Vietnam's trade deficit surged to its largest level in 17 months in May, threatening further devaluation of the currency, economists warned Friday. At 1.7 billion dollars, it was up from 1.5 billion dollars the previous month. The total for this year has reached 6.6 billion dollars, according to the General Statistics Office. In order to raise money for imports, Vietnam will have to devalue the dong to encourage exports, economist Le Dang Doanh said.'The trade deficit is one of the main factors behind devaluation,' said Vo Tri Thanh, deputy director of the Central Institute for Economic Management. Pressure on the dong was increasing also with other factors such as overseas remittances and foreign reserves trending downwards, Thanh said....More
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