From the beginning of the year up to February 15, the total state budget revenue was estimated to reach VND 214.2 trillion (nearly US$ 9,2 billion), equaling 14.2 percent of the year estimation, of which the domestic revenue gained VND 179.8 trillion (around US$ 7,7 billion), equivalent to 14.2 percent of the year estimation.
The total state budget spending was estimated at VND 145 trillion (around US$ 6,2 billion), equaling 8.3 percent of the year estimation, of which regular spending was VND 116.1 trillion (nearly US$ 5 billion), equaling 11 percent of the year estimation.
It is remarkable that development investment spending gained VND 7.4 trillion (nearly US$ 318 million), equal to only 1.6 percent of the year estimation.
Regarding the trade, pricing, transportation and tourism, the total retail sales of consumer goods in February decreased by 7.9 percent over January and by 6 percent over the same period of last year.
For the first 2 months of 2020, total retail sales of consumer goods increased by 8.3 percent over the same period in 2019 which increased at the lowest level within two months in a row since 2014 up to now.
In the activity of selling goods and the retail sales of goods in the first recent two months were estimated at VND 674 trillion (nearly US$ 29 billion), accounting for 78 percent of the total and up 9.8 percent over the same period in 2019 which was much lower than the growth rate of 13.3 percent of the same period in 2019.
However, some localities still had a rather growth in the retail sales of goods, including Ho Chi Minh City with a growth of 9.6 percent.
In February, the number of international visitors to Vietnam decreased sharply compared to the previous month and the same period last year, especially visitors from some Covid-19- hit countries such as China, Singapore and the Republic of Korea.
In the recent two months, Vietnam received 3.2 million foreign visitors, up 4.8 percent over the same period last year, the lowest increase of two months in a row from 2016 to 2020.
In the same period of previous years, the growth rate of international visitors to Vietnam was 17.5 percent, 33 percent, 29.7 percent and 8 percent, respectively.
Revenue of the accommodation and food services sector for the first two months of the year, it was estimated at VND 95 trillion, accounting for 11 percent of the total and only increasing by 1.7 percent compared to the same period last year.
Revenue of the accommodation and food services sector for the recent two months decreased sharply in Ho Chi Minh City, Khanh Hoa, Lam Dong, Hanoi and Can Tho.
The Covid-19 epidemic has significantly impacted on industrial production activities, so in the first two months of 2020, the industrial production index only increased by 6.2 percent over the same period last year.
