(VOVWORLD) - Vietnam’s GDP growth rate in the first half of this year was 3.72%, its Consumer Price Index was 3.29%, and inflation was 4.74%. According to experts, it will be a challenging task for Vietnam to realize its growth target of 6.5%, which will require ministries, sectors, localities, and businesses to take coordinated, flexible measures.
 (Photo: Vietnam+) |
Economists say Vietnam’s GDP growth rate in the first half was not high but neither shocking nor negative amid global economic difficulties and low or even negative growth rates in many countries.
International organizations including the World Bank forecast that Vietnam will achieve its growth target of 6.5% this year.
Economist Dr. Le Duy Binh said: "If we look at this figure from another perspective, we can see concerted efforts by the Government, the business community, and ordinary people over the past six months. This should be the foundation for us to look forward to higher growth rates in Q3 and Q4. Domestic consumption, reflected in the volume of retail sales and revenues, has maintained relatively high growth of around 6.5%. With this pace, total domestic consumption this year may reach 250 billion USD, which will compensate for the reduction of exports."
In the first half of this year, Vietnam’s import-export value totaled 317 billion USD, down 15.2% from last year. 76,000 new businesses registered during this period, with half a million registered workers.
Vietnam is forecast to continue facing numerous socio-economic difficulties in Q3, with political, social, and economic fluctuations around the world as well as food insecurity, energy insecurity, natural disasters, climate change, and unprecedented epidemics.
Ms Nguyen Thi Huonh, Director General of the General Statistics Office, said: "We will try to update information to produce in-depth import-export analyses and economic scenarios in the second half of this year. To achieve this year’s growth target of 6.5%, we need to grow 6-9% in the second half. This challenge will require a great effort.
Vietnam aims to maintain macro-economic stability, and implement proactive, flexible, and effective monetary policies closely coordinated with fiscal policies. Ministries, sectors and localities need to take drastic measures to accelerate the disbursement of public investment and the socio-economic recovery and development program.