Slow economic growth jeopardises annual goal

Slow economic growth jeopardises annual goal

The country's economic growth could end up at 5.6 or 5.7 per cent this year, lower than the target of 5.8 per cent, the National Financial Supervisory Committee (NFSC) warned in a report released yesterday.

Viet Nam was likely to see continued economic growth in the latter part of the year, driven by improved production, higher export turnover and optimistic signs of consumption, the report said. However, demand was not recovering steadily.

In August, core inflation was estimated at 3.34 per cent, lower than headline inflation of 4.31 per cent and core inflation of 4.43 per cent in the same period last year.

Headline inflation measures the total inflation within an economy and is affected by areas of the market that may experience sudden inflationary spikes, such as food and energy. Core inflation removes the CPI components that can exhibit large amounts of volatility month to month, which can distort the headline figure.

In the first eight months of 2014, total sales value reached VND1,900 trillion (US$90.5 billion), an 11.4 per cent year-on-year increase. Retail sales accounted for more than 75 per cent of sales value at VND1,400 trillion ($68.14 billion), a 10.7 per cent year-on-year increase. 

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