Vietnam premier pushes for higher 2025 growth targets
VIETNAM Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh projects the economy will grow up to 7 per cent next year and said the government will strive to exceed that, as he outlined the nation’s economic targets in parliament.
Chinh said he expects growth of 6.5 to 7 per cent in 2025, while the government will actively push for 7 to 7.5 per cent expansion, during his address to the National Assembly on Monday (Oct 21).
The government will aim to “boost new growth drivers” including digital transformation, green transition and the circular economy, Chinh told parliament. It will also press ahead with its anti-graft campaign, he said, including increasing inspection in sectors where corruption is prevalent.
Export-reliant Vietnam saw growth unexpectedly accelerate last quarter, boosted by manufacturing and exports before Super Typhoon Yagi in September, which caused about US$3.3 billion in economic damage and killed hundreds of people.
Chinh also expects growth of 6.8 to 7 per cent in 2024, beating parliament’s target of as much as 6.5 per cent, with a goal to push that to exceed 7 per cent while curbing inflation at under 4.5 per cent.
Parliament’s economic committee urged the government to focus on clearing bottlenecks, to recover the capital market in order to support businesses. The financial sector still poses risks and, while the property sector sees some signs of recovery, it is still struggling, according to Vu Hong Thanh, the head of the committee who was also addressing parliament.
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Public investment in the first nine months was only at 47.3 per cent of what the premier planned, and lower than 51.4 per cent in the same period last year, according to Thanh.
Public debt will be around 36 to 37 per cent of gross domestic product by the end of 2024, with government debt at about 21 to 22 per cent of state revenue, according to the government.
The South-east Asian nation’s growth target is more optimistic than the 6.1 per cent pace forecast for Vietnam in 2025 by the International Monetary Fund.
The State Bank of Vietnam last week signalled that it is open to a reduction in policy rates “to support businesses and the economy with more capital” following the destruction caused by Yagi, according to the central bank’s deputy governor Dao Minh Tu.
The prime minister said 2025 GDP per capita will be about US$4,900. The government aims to boost the size of the economy to about US$780 billion to US$800 billion by 2030, Chinh said. Vietnam’s GDP was US$433 billion last year, according to the World Bank. BLOOMBERG
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