Vietnam’s growth projected to accelerate towards year-end

Vietnam’s economy is forecast to expand by 6.9-7.2% in the third quarter of 2017 and 7.3-7.5% in the final quarter, according to the National Financial Supervisory Commission (NFSC).

Vietnam's economic growth could potentially reach 6.5-6.7% in 2017.
Vietnam's economic growth could potentially reach 6.5-6.7% in 2017.

These figures demonstrate that economic growth could potentially reach 6.5-6.7% which is the set target aimed for by the government.

The NFSC said that Vietnam’s economy saw noticeable recovery through the April-June period, expanding by 6.17%, after slowing down for the previous two consecutive quarters.

In the first half of the year, growth in agriculture, manufacturing and services made steady recovery, while the mining sector continued its decline.

Aggregate supply is expected to keep growing in the two remaining quarters, thanks to improvements in the manufacturing sector.

Aggregate demand is also projected to increase in the second half of the year, especially in private consumption and government spending when construction capital disbursement is expedited.

The NFSC forecasts that inflation will continue its downward trend towards the end of the year, thanks to stabilising food prices and costs of catering services.

Therefore, average inflation in 2017 is estimated at 2.4% as long as there are no significant changes in global commodity prices and no adjustments to the prices of public services at home.

Otherwise, inflation could increase by 1.8-2 per cent if public service prices are hiked by half the 2016 level.

In addition, if electricity prices rise by 8-10%, inflation will edge up by 0.3-0.4 percentage point.