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Vietnam poised for higher second half growth: World Bank
Vietnam’s economic fundamentals have remained strong despite the global economic slump and will continue to support the country’s growth, Xinhua has quoted the World Bank country director as saying.
According to the Chinese state news agency report Wednesday, Victoria Kwakwa said the Vietnamese government’s official figures for the first half of the year showed recovery “picking up,” and the economy is likely to grow faster in the second half of the year.
The 3.9 percent economic growth in the first six months this year was lower compared with previous years, but it is better than several other countries in the region, Kwakwa said.
In the first quarter, the Vietnamese economy went up by 3.1 percent yearon-year, figures from the General Statistics Office showed. The growth climbed to 4.5 percent in the second quarter.
“It is a positive trend from the first quarter to the second quarter,” Xinhua quoted Kwakwa as saying. “The improvement shows that the economy continues to strengthen and the signs of recovery are picking up.”
Based on the statistics, Kwakwa was confident that the strong economic foundations would continue to support Vietnam’s growth and macroeconomic performances.
The country is aiming for economic growth of more than 5 percent this year, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said July 7. The government also said it will try to keep inflation below 8 percent and credit growth between 25 percent and 27 percent by the end of the year.
Economists have suggested the government needs to remain vigilant about inflation as it forges ahead with its US$8-billion economic stimulus package, including interest subsidies.
“It is time to deal with some of the side effects coming with strengthening demand, which tend to be inflationary,” Xinhua quoted Kwakwa as saying. The size and content of any additional stimulus package should also be carefully considered, she said.
Yet the World Bank economist was optimistic about Vietnam’s economy in the second half, the report said.
As construction and industrial growth has strengthened impressively and agricultural performance has recovered, Kwakwa believed that the country’s growth would be higher in the second half of the year.
ThanhNien
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