VN industrial growth slows to just 4.8%

VN industrial growth slows to just 4.8%

The nation's Index of Industrial Production (IIP) slowed to its lowest in three years, rising just 4.8 percent in 2012, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

IIP growth rose 7.3 per cent last year and 9 per cent in 2010.

Experts blamed the global recession which had lowered domestic purchasing power as well as falling demand from major export markets.

Manufacturing and processing industries, which make up the bulk of the country's industrial output, edged up only 4.5 percent, equivalent to half of last year.

Despite inventories 3 per cent lower than the previous year, the two industries had a stockpile index of 20.1 per cent this year.

Among industrial products to record significant slowing growth were car and motorbikes (down 15 per cent), paper (down 10 per cent), coal (down 9.5 per cent), and gas and electricity (down 8 per cent).

On a brighter note, other products did manage to increase production, with sugar surging 18 per cent, pharmaceuticals up 15 per cent, crude oil exploitation up 10 per cent, and beer up 9.5 per cent.

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