Vietnam sees 2022 growth beating goal as recovery powers on
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VIETNAM'S economy looks on course to surpassing its 2022 growth goal, as a better-than-expected second-quarter performance pointed to a broad-based recovery in the South-east Asian export powerhouse.
Gross domestic product (GDP) will likely grow as much as 7 per cent this year, beating the government's 6-6.5 per cent target, Nguyen Thi Huong, head of Vietnam's General Statistics Office (GSO), said by phone on Wednesday (Jun 29). Data earlier in the day showed the economy expanded 7.72 per cent in the April-June period from a year earlier.
That was quicker than the median estimate for a 5.9 per cent gain in a Bloomberg survey of economist, and the highest level since at least the first quarter of 2013.
"We expect growth to be at a very high rate in the next 6 months as every sector is recovering strongly," Huong said, pointing to strength in manufacturing, exports and services sectors. "Third-quarter GDP growth could even be a double-digit number," she said.
The June quarter performance helped lift growth in the first-half to 6.42 per cent from a year ago, beating the GSO's forecast for a 5.5 per cent pace.
Underpinning the recovery has been the government's US$15 billion worth of fiscal stimulus, and an easy monetary policy in a world where central banks have turned hawkish. That's helped boost the competitiveness of the South-east Asian nation, which is emerging as an attractive alternative destination for foreign investment amid trade disruptions from China's lockdowns, the war in Ukraine and lingering tensions between Beijing and Washington.
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"However, we still have to be very mindful of inflation," Huong said, amid growing price pressures. Consumer prices have gained steadily each month this year to touch 3.37 per cent in June, data showed Wednesday. The government targets 2022 average inflation at 4 per cent. BLOOMBERG
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