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Declining spending slows growth rate
Vietnam’s total retail and service turnover in the first quarter of 2009 witnessed a year-on-year increase by 21.9 percent to VND270.27 trillion (US$15.9 billion).
Tran This Hang, head of the Statistic Office under the Trade Department said the growth rate in the first three months of this year was lower than the corresponding period last year.
The growth rate of the index has been dropping since June last year due to the rise of the consumer price index (CPI).
The sectors most vulnerable to the crisis were trade, restaurants and hotels.
Purchasing power declines occurred mostly in the low-income groups, making up 55 percent of the total retail and service turnover, while it remains unchanged in the average income group.
She added that the Government is helping the farmers, accounted for 70 percent of the population, to get low-interest loans for consumption and business development purposes.
The economic stimulus policy is expected to increase the annual growth rate of retail and service revenue for the whole year to 20-23 percent.
The CPI in March has risen 1.31 percent over the first three months of this year, but it inched down 0.17 percent in March compared to the previous two months.
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