In a report serving the government meeting in September, NFSC said the local economy maintained recovery momentum and gained faster growth, especially in the third quarter of 2014. The gross domestic product (GDP) had grown steadily since the first quarter.
In the July-September period, GDP expanded by 6.15% compared to 5.25% in the previous quarter, and this positive quarter-on-quarter growth will back the Government’s efforts to realize a growth rate target of 5.8% this year.
Between January and September, the industrial production index increased by 6.4% year-on-year.
Both exports and imports improved, advancing by 13.2% and 12.1% year-on-year respectively, with trade surplus hitting nearly US$1 billion. Import value of machines and components surged by 33%, metal by 40%, cloth by 82%, plastics by 31% and apparel and footwear by 30%.
Besides, consumption also increased with total retail and consumption service revenues (excluding price factor) up 6.2% over 5.2% in the same period of 2013.
Inflation was still under control, rising only 3.12% year-on-year. The figure is projected at around 3-4% this year.
Low inflation facilitated interest rate cuts. Mobilization rates for the six-month tenor dropped from 7.2% early this year to around 6.1% on September 20.
The banking system continued to have strong liquidity, which was a supportive factor for government bond issue.
Meanwhile, the balance of payments reached a record surplus of US$10.15 billion in the first six months, helping spur foreign exchange reserves and stabilize the exchange rate.
The State budget’s overspending was VND124.5 trillion in the nine months, down 4.7% year-on-year.
The commission, however, pointed out some shortcomings. Aggregate demand improved but was not strong enough to support the economy.
Personal spending remained low while the increase of total retail and consumption service revenue was still much lower than 10% in 2010 and 2011.
The ratio of total social investment/GDP was 30.2% in the first six months, higher than this year’s plan at 29.4% but private investments were only 10.3% of GDP, lower than 11.1% in the same period last year.
In January-September, over 48,300 enterprises were dissolved or halted operations, up 13.8% year-on-year.