The country’s import and export value was US$63.5 billion in May, down 3.4% over April, totaling US$306.15 billion in the first five months of the year, up 16% year on year. Of the sum, the import value was US$152.8 billion, up 15.3%, and the export value was US$153.3 billion, up 16.7%.

According to a representative of the Import-Export Tax Department, the taxable import value of key commodities increased over the same period last year. Crude oil reached 4.1 million tons worth US$2,569 million, up 4.6% in volume and 44% in value. Petroleum products weighed 3.3 million tons valued at US$3,345 million, up 17.1% in volume and 121.6% in value.

Besides, in the first five months of the year, most imports declined in volume (except petroleum and crude oil), but rising prices boosted the value by 22.6%.

Rising export and import values strongly impacted budget revenue in the 5-month period. Specifically, as of May 31, the customs sector collected VND186,649 billion, equaling 53% of the full-year estimate and growing 16.8% from the same period in 2021. Crude oil recorded the highest growth of tax amount with VND2,128 billion. Petroleum products contributed an additional VND8,621 billion to the budget revenue.

The considerable growth in domestic demand in late 2021 and early 2022 enabled the Vietnamese economy to maintain its growth momentum in early 2022, said the department. The price of Brent oil fluctuated in the range of US$107 - 110 per barrel, which produced positive impacts on crude oil revenue in the first five months of 2022.

The sharp growth of budget revenue collected by the customs sector in the first five months of the year made the public wonder whether the economy has recovered. Businesses are still facing a lot of hardships but all budget revenue is growing high; is there an over-collected tax that will hurt taxpayers? The Ministry of Finance reported to the Government and the National Assembly to make adjustments to the budget collection policy. The ministry proposed a series of policies on tax and fee exemption, reduction and relaxation for enterprises, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, to help them maintain business operations and overcome difficulties during the pandemic.

Moreover, according to a representative of the Ministry of Finance, the structure of budget revenue is shifting towards a more sustainable direction. Tax revenue depends on many external factors such as the revenue from crude oil, petroleum, inputs for textile and garments, footwear, telephones, computers, electronic products and chemicals.