Vietnam economic growth quickens in Q4 on exports

Hanoi

VIETNAM'S economic growth accelerated in the fourth quarter as banks increased lending and rising foreign investment boosted exports.

Gross domestic product rose 6.96 per cent in Q4 from a year earlier, quickening from a revised 6.07 per cent gain in the three months through September, according to data released by the General Statistics Office (GSO) in Hanoi last Saturday. For the full year, the economy grew 5.98 per cent, beating the government's 5.8 per cent target and compared with a median estimate of 5.7 per cent in a Bloomberg survey.