Ho Chi Minh City is likely to realise the 9.5-10 percent GDP growth rate target set for the full year when it is prompted by a year-on-year GDP expansion of 8.9 percent in the January-September period.

The HCM City Development Research Institute made the assessment at the municipal People’s Committee’s meeting reviewing the nine-month socio-economic situation and key tasks for the rest of the year on September 27.

Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Le Hoang Quan said most economic targets were reached with growth rates higher than in 2013.

In the period, retail sales of goods and services were estimated at over 476 trillion VND (22 billion USD), up 12.5 percent over the same period last year, the Committee reported.

Meanwhile, exports were 23.8 billion USD, an increase of 3.5 percent, while imports were 24.8 billion USD, down 8.78 percent (the same period last year increased by 12.92 percent).

The city granted investment certificates to 292 new foreign-in projects and allowed 88 others to increase their capital, with a total sum of 1.45 billion USD, an increase of 6.9 percent over the same period.

State budget collection reached 189.3 trillion VND (8.89 billion USD), accounting for 83.66 percent of the estimate for the whole year, an increase of 15.66 percent.

At the meeting, Quan asked branches and sectors to continue solving problems and increasing support for businesses when it comes to the issue of capital, investment environment and market exploitation, competitiveness and product quality improvement.

He also asked for increasing public investment efficiency, accelerating administrative reform, and focusing investment on developing the sectors that serves the promotion of economic growth and economic structure transformation.-VNA