3:26:36 PM | 7/8/2005
Vietnam's annual economic growth will remain steady at around 7.6 per cent for the next three years, fueled by rising domestic demand and strong exports, the Asian Development Bank said in its annual forecast April 6.
ADB’s Asian Development Outlook 2005 said Vietnam’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth reached 7.5 per cent in 2004, fueled by buoyant consumption and investment as well as strong global markets for oil and commodities.
The economy will expand by 7.6 per cent this year and in 2006. The figure will drop to 7.5 per cent in 2007, the ADB’s 2005 Asian Development Outlook said.
Domestic demand is expected to surge by at least 8.5 per cent annually in the next three years, the Manila-based bank said. Meanwhile, exports are set to increase by 11.4 per cent in 2005, and will continue to remain steady in the years to come, it added.
The country’s inflation rate, which rose to 7.7 per cent in the last year, is expected to moderate to about 5.7 per cent this year.
But in the long run, when the economy is fully opened, the country will struggle to maintain rapid growth and reduce poverty if it faces delays in reforms to the operations of state-owned enterprises and commercial banks, the bank said.
Setbacks in the improvement of efficient capital sources and in the process of increasing economic competitiveness will also contribute to the struggle, it added.
Last year, according to the Vietnamese government’s calculation, the economy grew 7.69 per cent. The government has set a target of 8.5 per cent for this year.
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