Hanoi – Vietnamese experts held an optimistic view over the country’s economic prospects in 2014, saying that Vietnam’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth can surpass the target of 5.8 percent set by the National Assembly, local media report.

In an interview with local Bao Dau Tu (Vietnam Investment Review), an online newspaper under Vietnam’s Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) on Monday, Cao Viet Sinh, senior economic expert and former deputy minister of MPI quoted the General Statistics Office as saying that the country’s GDP growth in the first nine months is expected to hit 5.62 percent, higher than that of 2013 and 2012 at 5.14 percent and 5.1 percent, respectively.

Meanwhile, the third-quarter GDP growth is to reach 6.19 percent, higher than that of 5.42 percent during the second quarter and 5.09 percent during the first quarter.

In the nine-month period, Vietnam’s industrial production index is to increase by 6.7 percent year-on-year while the country’s retail sale revenue in the period is expected to rise 6.2 percent (excluding price hike), higher than that of 5.3 percent in the same period last year.

These figures present a clearer and firmer recovery signal of the economy, assessed Sinh.

Echoing Sinh, Truong Dinh Tuyen, former Vietnamese minister of commerce, said on state-run radio VOV last Saturday that the country’s macro-economy has been more stable and the inflation rate has decreased.

“The Vietnamese economy has left bottom line and is seeking ways to go up,” said Tuyen, adding that despite instability in global economy due to political unrest worldwide, Vietnam’s economic growth is forecast to hit 6-6.2 percent in 2015.

The assessment of Tuyen on the country’s economy comes amid Vietnamese prime minister’s recent request to improve the country’s business environment as well as the effects from the possible conclusion of several free trade agreements in the first half of 2015.

With this positive sentiment, the senior expert forecast that in 2015, Vietnam’s inflation will not exceed 6.5 percent if the State Bank of Vietnam, the country’s central bank, can well implement a neutral monetary policy.

However, Vietnam is still facing challenges and risks on increasing public debts which can threaten its repayment ability and financial security, warned Tuyen.

In a related move, at a two-day monthly session of the Vietnamese government which concluded on Tuesday, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said Vietnam’s socio-economic situation in the first nine months of 2014 experienced positive developments in all fields including economy, society, administrative reforms, security, defense, public order and safety among others.

“The macro-economy has been more stable. Despite facing difficulties, more companies enjoy increasing profits in production, trading activities. Although the number of newly established enterprises plunges in the nine-month period, their registered capital goes up,” Dung said.

The Vietnamese Prime Minister directed relevant agencies to strive to reach the set target of 5.8 percent economic growth in 2014, reported Vietnam’s state-run news agency VNA on Tuesday. Source: Xinhua