Vietnam ‘s economy is on the right track to recovery, with inflation no
longer a great concern, according to Minister of Planning and
Investment Bui Quang Vinh.
The minister was speaking at the regular
cabinet meeting in Hanoi on June 27 to review the country’s
socio-economic performance during the first half of the year.
His
statement was backed up with positive readings of the main
macro-economic indicators released by the General Statistics Office
(GSO) earlier the same day.
The nation’s gross domestic products
grew 4.9 percent year-on-year in the half past of this year. The growth
rate means Vietnam ’s economy has expanded at a slower pace compared
to the same period last year, but growth was on an upward trend on a
quarterly basis.
The Consumer Price Index ( CPI ), which broadly
reflects inflation, has either fallen or increased just slightly since
March, after rising for seven consecutive months.
The CPI in June increased just 2.4 point compared to December, the lowest rise for the period in the last 10 years.
This indicated inflation would no longer be a big concern this year and
the country might end up with lower inflation rate compared to 2012.
Export continued to enjoy steady growth with total earnings over the
last six months reaching 62.1 billion USD, 16.1 percent higher than the
same period last year.
While there were some positive signs,
cabinet members remained cautious that the economy was still latent with
risks of instability.
Despite interest rate cuts, credit access
was still very challenging for the business community because there was
still no viable solution to the bad debt problem.
A number of local
leaders suggested the Government come up with policies to boost
consumption and investment which in turn would propel production.
Le Hoang Quan, chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee, the
country’s biggest economic hub, said the banks still had healthy
deposits, so the Government should put in place loose monetary policies
to enable struggling enterprises to access credit.
Mai Van Ninh,
Party Committee Secretary of central Thanh Hoa province said special
attention should be paid to enterprises working in the sector of capital
construction which were faced with high inventories.
The
production of building materials could not be revived while the housing
market remained frozen, said Minister of Construction Trinh Dinh Dung,
stressing the solution is to boost social housing projects to create
demand.-VNA