Economists have forecast that the Vietnamese economy could grow by 6.86 percent this year, higher than the 6.6 – 6.8 percent set by the National Assembly.

They made the prediction during a symposium held by the National Centre for Socio-Economic Information and Forecast (NCIF) in Hanoi on July 11 discussing 2019 mid-term economic report.

Speaking at the event, NCIF Director Tran Thi Hong Minh said the growth of agro-forestry-fishery sector could reach 3.02 percent, agriculture and construction 8.61 percent, and services 6.84 percent. Inflation would be about 3.13 percent, well below the targeted 4 percent.

The economy expanded by an estimated 6.76 percent in the first half, lower than the 7.08 percent growth recorded during the same period last year.

NCIF Deputy Director Dang Duc Anh said while macro-economy was stable in the past six months, but various challenges arose during January – June, including unfavourable weather conditions, the African swine fever and slow disbursement of public investment capital.

Export growth also slowed down due to adverse impacts of the world economy.

A bright point was the increasing inflow of investment capital from China which soared to over 2.2 billion USD while foreign investment via mergers and acquisitions nearly doubled year-on-year.

In order to achieve economic growth target, Anh suggested continuing to pursue a cautious monetary policy to keep foreign exchange rate and interest rates stable, gear credit towards manufacturing and trade while stepping up the disbursement of foreign and private investment capital.

He called on the government to intensify the fight against trade frauds, improve workforce quality via connecting with firms to offer vocational training, and promote start-ups.

By VNA (Vietnamplus)