Vietnam July trade deficit widens, driven by higher fuel costs

HANOI, Aug 3 : Vietnam posted a trade deficit of $3.587 billion in July, wider than June's $2.64 billion gap, while consumer prices rose 4.45 per cent from a year earlier, compared with 4.69 per cent the previous month, government data showed on Monday.Goods exports in July rose 25 per cent from a year earlier to $53 billion, while imports climbed 41 per cent to $56.67 billion, the National Statistics Office (NSO) said.For the January-July period, exports increased 21.7 per cent year-on-year to $320 billion, while imports surged 34.8 per cent to $340 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of $20.5 billion, exceeding Vietnam's previous full-year record trade deficit of about $18 billion in 2008.The Southeast Asian manufacturing hub is targeting economic growth of more than 10 per cent this y