Vietnam’s growth pegged at 8%: PM

The economy showed positive recovery in many aspects in the first nine months, with 14 out of 15 targets achieved or even exceeded, he said.

The economy expanded by 8.83% in the first nine months, while government revenues rose 22% year-on-year, he added, citing a government report.

The report also pointed out that the government is dealing with issues caused by ailing banks and delayed projects, while progress has been made in recollecting assets from corruption cases.

Public debt is under control. It is forecast to be 43-44% of GDP this year, under the 60% ceiling.

Vu Hong Thanh, chairman of the National Assembly’s Economic Committee, said that the 8% growth forecast is among the world’s highest, showing a strong recovery from the pandemic-hit 2020 and 2021 and laying a firm foundation for further growth in upcoming years.

But Chinh said there are still many challenges ahead for the economy with inflation rising and declining consumer demand in major trade markets.

Many risks remain in stock, bond and property markets, while restructuring some credit organizations proves difficult. Bad debts and tax debts are on the rise, the PM said.

The global economy is difficult to predict with rapid changes and Vietnam, as an economy with large trade openness, still lags in issuing timely policies to deal with these developments, he added.

The economic committee also expressed concerns about gasoline prices and supply as many retailers have had to shut up shop due to losses caused by low commission.

It wants the government to control prices of essential goods, which remain high even though gasoline prices have dropped.

The committee said that disbursement of the VND350 trillion ($14.26 billion) package is slow as only 20% have been used in the last nine months while public investment disbursement is also delayed.

The 2% loan interest incentive has a very low disbursement rate as only VND13.5 billion had been given out by the end of August among the target of over VND16 trillion for this year.

Chinh said that the government targets a GDP growth of 6.5% next year. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is set to rise 4.5% against the 2022 target of 4%.

There will be large inflation pressure next year as manufacturing input costs continue to rise, he added.