Vietnam’s economy had a successful 2018 but growth may slow this year as the country tries to curb inflation.
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Speaking at a meeting held by the National Assembly's Economics Committee in Nha Trang City on April 25, Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment, Le Quang Manh said that the country had a successful year in 2018 in terms of economic development with all 12 targets reached.
"Of the 12 targets set by the National Assembly for 2018, GDP was higher than expected," Manh said. “Trade turnover reached over USD 480 billion which was USD 52 billion or 12.2% higher than that of 2017. The trade surplus was a record USD 6.8 billion."
The official also added that GDP growth was seen at 7.08%, higher than the target of between 6.5-6.7% set by the NA.
"GDP per capital reached USD2,590 in 2018 which was USD 201.6 higher than that of 2017," he said.
According to Manh, the socio-economic situation saw positive progress in the first quarter of 2019 but would tend to slow in the months to come.
Addressing the meeting, chairman of the National Assembly's Economics Committee, Vu Hong Thanh, said that besides achievements, there were still some problems.
"One problem is the increasing prices of essential goods following the recent petrol and power prices hike," Thanh stressed. "Real estate bubbles are increasingly common in several areas. There are also challenges and risks from the world's economy which may badly affect local economy including Brexit and Sino-US trade problems."
Thanh added that although economic experts are positive that the country could control inflation below 4% this year, there are many challenges ahead as the petrol and power prices hike are pushing up prices of other goods. The country would have to adjust monetary and fiscal policies to curb inflation. This would affect economic growth of the coming period.
