Vietnam's inflation accelerates in April, trade deficit widens

Vietnam's consumer prices rose 5.46% in April from the same month last year, government data showed on Sunday, accelerating from 4.65% in March, fuelled by higher energy costs due to the Iran war. * The quickening of inflation was "due to higher domestic gas prices in accordance with global fuel prices," the National Statistics Office said in a report, adding rising material and transport costs also pushed up prices for services and construction. * April industrial production rose 9.9% from a year earlier, higher than March's 4.6% year-on-year expansion. * April exports rose 21% on year to $45.52 billion, while imports rose 32.5% to $48.8 billion, the stats office said. * April's trade deficit widened to $3.28 billion from $677 million in March. * For the first four months of the year, exports rose 19.7% to $168.5 billion while imports increased 28.7% to $175.64 billion, creating a trade deficit of $7.1 billion. * Foreign investment inflows in the first four mont

hs of this year rose 9.8% to $7.4 billion. * Public investment disbursement in the four-month period rose 16.4% year-on-year to $5.8 billion, accounting for 13.7% of the government's full-year plan. * For the four months, Vietnam's trade surplus with the U.S. rose 24.4% on year to $46.9 billion, while the deficit with China expanded 33.4% to $46.4 billion. * Vietnam's Finance Ministry forecast inflation could reach 5.5% this year, above the government's 4.5% target, driven mostly by the impact of the Iran war.