Vietnam set to surpass socio-economic targets

The government’s assessment is that eight of 12 targets assigned by the National Assembly, the national legislature, will be surpassed while the other four are achievable, the Prime Minister said in Hanoi.

The government projects that the economy will expand by more than the targeted 6.7 percent, state collections will exceed the target by 3-5 percent, inflation will stay under 4 percent and public debt will be lower than last year.

The country’s public debt will likely reach 63.92 percent of GDP, or VND3,530 trillion ($151 billion) by the end of this year, says a recent report submitted to the PM by the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

Meanwhile, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in August is 0.45 percent up against July and 3.98 percent up against August last year, according to the General Statistics Office.

The average CPI for the first eight months was 3.52 percent higher than the same period last year.

The country posted a trade surplus of $2.8 billion in the first eight months.

During this period, the index for industrial production rose 11.2 percent, with the manufacturing-processing sector growing 13.3 percent.

Retail sales for this period is estimated at VND2.15 trillion ($92.4 million), up 11.7 percent year-on-year.

Of this total, sales of food and foodstuff increased year-on-year by 12.8 percent, garments by 12.3 percent, home appliances by 11.6 percent, cultural and educational items by 10.8 percent, and vehicles by 10.7 percent.

In June, the World Bank said Vietnam’s economy might expand by 6.8 percent this year, revising up its previous forecast of 6.5 percent in April.

The bank explained its upward revision on better prospects for the expansion of agriculture and production for exports and continued inflow of foreign direct investment thanks to bright economic prospects.

If the actual growth rate matches projections, it will be the same as last year, which was the highest in a decade, it said.

In the first quarter this year, the economy expanded 7.38 percent, also a 10-year record, thanks to strong growth in agriculture, industry-construction and service sectors.