The government's report on May 20 has shown that it will be very difficult to achieve a 5.5% GDP growth rate in 2013 amid the current challenges.
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The issue was discussed at the 5th session of the 18th National Assembly.
In 2012, Vietnam recorded GDP growth of 5.03%. The growth rate was lower than NA's goal of 6-6.5% because of difficulties besetting the global economy. The Vietnamese government also had to adopt deflationary measures to stabilise the macro-economy.
GDP growth during the first quarter of 2013 reached 4.89%, higher than the rate of 4.75% last year thanks to the services sector. The construction industry showed some improvements after major efforts by the government.
However, consumer spending power will not be able to improve since incomes and job opportunities have dwindled.
As of late 2012, 69% firms reported losses. In Hanoi, 46,000 of 90,000 firms reported total losses of VND47 trillion (USD2.3 billion).
Credit growth will also remain low if the problem of bad debt is not resolved. Banks have been asked to develop solutions to classify suitable borrowers instead of tightening lending activities in general which have had an adverse effect on the economy.
To deal with the problems, the government set plans to reduce the gap between deposits and lending rates, and domestic and world gold prices and ensured the value of VND.
The government will focus on preventing tax debts, a growing budget deficit, and intends to speed up the disbursement of FDI capital.