Vietnam’s economy obtains positive results: PM
Vietnam’s economy obtains positive results: PM
The Vietnamese economy has so far brought about an array of positive outcomes despite economic uncertainties around the world, according to Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc at a regular Cabinet meeting in Hanoi.
The meeting was aimed at discussing the socioeconomic performance in July and the first seven months of this year, reported the Government news website.
Phuc said that international agencies have held their positive outlooks for the country’s economy in 2019 and the years ahead.
The International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, HSBC and the Asian Development Bank expected the national economy to grow 6.5%, 6.6%, 6.7% and 6.8% respectively.
Meanwhile, Vietnam has moved up three notches to rank 42nd out of 129 economies in the 2019 edition of the Global Innovation Index, recently released by the World Intellectual Property Organization. The country came third in the ASEAN.
“I have recently attended investment promotion conferences in the mountainous (northern) province of Lao Cai and (the southern) province of Kien Giang. I realize the business and investment atmosphere of domestic investors looks very promising,” he said.
He added many local firms have made major investments, which is an encouraging sign of the self-reliant economy.
Four major banks which lowered their lending rates this morning are expected to cut production costs, facilitate business activities, and help stimulate economic growth, according to the Government leader.
He also cited the results of Vietnam’s Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) as saying that the index was 52.6 in July, up from 52.5 from a month earlier.
Compared with other ASEAN economies, Vietnam’s PMI was still behind that of Myanmar, but went ahead those of the Philippines and Thailand. The manufacturing sector is expected to continue its yearly double-digital growth in the third quarter of this year.
Strong economic indicators
PM Phuc quoted a report from the Ministry of Planning and Investment as saying that the country’s socioeconomic situation is following a positive trend.
The headline consumer price index (CPI) for July ticked up 0.18% from a month earlier, and the average inflation in the first seven months of the year was up 2.61% year-on-year, the lowest pickup in three years.
The industrial production index rose 9.4%, with a 10.7% increase in the processing and manufacturing industries.
Disbursed foreign direct investment (FDI) grew 7.1% year-on-year to reach US$10.6 billion.
The local business community saw more than 74,000 new entrants and 24,300 firms that resumed operations after periods of suspension.
The total retail sales of goods and services in the seven-month period marked a high 11.6% pickup. Consumer purchasing power also saw high gains, while goods supplies were abundant.
International tourist arrivals to the country amounted to more than 1.3 million last month, taking the total in the seven-month period to 9.8 million, or a year-on-year rise of 7.9%.
Over this period of time, Vietnam earned US$145 billion in export turnover, up 7.5% compared with the same period last year. The export growth of the domestic corporate sector was higher than that of the FDI sector at 12.2% versus 5.6%, and local firms accounted for 30.3% of the total exports. Also, the country saw US$1.8 billion in trade surplus.
Challenges
In addition to positive outcomes, there remained difficulties and challenges, according to the Government. A prolonged heat wave caused drought in some provinces and cities in northern and central Vietnam, disrupting rice farming and forest planting.
Also, the sweltering weather was a contributing factor to a host of forest fires in the north-central, central and coastal regions, which affected agricultural production and locals’ lives.
The ongoing spread of African swine fever, a viral disease affecting only pigs, has affected farms in 62 of the country’s 63 provinces and cities, except for the south-central coastal province of Ninh Thuan. The exports of some farming products have also taken a hit.
At the meeting, Cabinet members were expected to review the execution of its first resolution for 2019, as well as pilot systems and policies in the central coastal city of Danang, and debate amendments and supplements to another resolution on restructuring the State budget and public debt.
Cabinet members also sought ways to resolve difficulties arising in the enforcement of the Forestry Law and a directive of the Party Central Committee’s Secretariat on forest management, protection and development.
The master plan for socioeconomic development in mountainous and disadvantaged areas was also brought up for discussion there.
