Public debt up, CPI down, consumers fasten belt
Public debt up, CPI down, consumers fasten belt
Economists have raised the alarm over the increasing public debt and the domestic production stagnation because of the weak demand.
Public debt per capita on the rise
The global public debt clock on The Economist showed the Vietnamese public debt was at $80.070 billion on March 23, 2014, which was equal to 48 percent of the GDP, an increase of 11.2 percent from 2013.
The total public debts of Vietnam have increased by $2.634 billion so far, which means that the debt borne by every Vietnamese has increased by $27.31.
By January 17, 2013, the Vietnamese public debt had moved to $70.576 billion, accounting for 49.5 percent of GDP, up by 13 percent over 2011, while the public debt per capita was $789.9.
The figures by September 4, 2012 were $67.6 billion in total, 50 percent of GDP and $756.9 per capita.
As such, while the Vietnamese public debt tends to decrease in comparison with GDP, the debt per capita index has increased.
Vu Dinh Anh, a well-known economist, has warned that with the current rate, the ceiling public debt would soar once again to 80 percent of GDP by 2015.
Dr. Dao Hung and Dr. Trinh Quang Anh from the Policy & Development Institute, said with the plan on issuing VND320 trillion worth of government bonds in 2014-2015, they can see the possibility of the public debts turning unsafe. If the scenario occurs, this would lead to the uncertainties to the banking system as well.
Acting Head of the Public Policies and Management Institute Dr. Pham The Anh has also pointed out that there is a fine line between the “safe” and “unsafe” concepts mentioned in the official reports about the Vietnamese public debts.
Vietnamese fasten their belt even more
The recent survey on the global consumers’ confidence conducted by Nielsen showed that Vietnamese are the most economical consumers in ASEAN.
According to VnExpress, 74 percent of the surveyed Vietnamese said they would save money after covering the basic needs for their lives.
Indonesia ranks second in the list of the most economical countries with 72 percent of consumers saying the same thing. The third and fourth positions belong to the Philippines (68 percent) and Thailand (66 percent).
90 percent of Vietnamese said they have changed their consumption habits to save more money. They have cut down the expenses on clothes, non-home entertainment, gas and electricity bills.
The Nielsen’s report showed that the consumers’ confidence index (CCI) of the Vietnamese reached 98 scores in the fourth quarter of 2013, an increase of 10 scores over the same period of the last year.
However, the index represented the sharp fall from the 119 scores in the second quarter of 2010. After reaching the highest peak, the index immediately dropped to 88 scores in the next quarter.
Analysts have found that the index has never exceeded the 100 score threshold since 2011.
The conclusions prove to coincide with the General Statistics Office’s report that the consumer price index (CPI) in March 2014 decreased by 0.44 percent from the month before.
vietnamnet
