Viet Nam sustains recovery of economic activities
VGP - Available data suggests continued recovery of domestic economic activities with industrial production growing by 8.5 percent and retail sales by 3.1 percent compared to the same period last year despite the effects of the recent surge in COVID-19 infections on labor supply, production and consumption.
The above figures were referred in the World Bank (WB)'s Viet Nam Macro Monitoring for March 2022 which was released on March 11.
Compared to a year ago, foreign direct investment (FDI) commitment slowed while FDI disbursement increased for the third month in a row, highlighted the WB.
The report shows that, despite rising energy prices, consumer price index (CPI) inflation remained subdued thanks to relatively stable food prices.
Credit demand remained strong after the Lunar New Year, keeping overnight interbank interest rate at 2.56 percent at the end of February, compared to less than one percent at the end of 2021.
Budget balance was in US$1.1 billion surplus in February as revenue performance remained strong while expenditures increased thanks to improved disbursement of public investment.
The WB recommended that as the number of new confirmed COVID-19 cases is surging, continued administration of the vaccine boosters and renewed health guidance are critical.
Authorities should encourage exporters to seek new markets and innovate into new products through global value chains and existing free trade agreements to ensure more export resilience, it suggested.
