Ho Chi Minh City saw a good sign of economic recovery with its GDP reaching 184.27 trillion VND ( 8.66 billion USD) in the first quarter of this year, a year-on-year increase of 7.7 percent.

Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Le Hoang Quan made the remark at a recent meeting to review the city’s socio-economic and cultural situation in the reviewed period and discuss ways to implement tasks and key measures for the second quarter.

According to a report presented by the municipal Department of Planning and Investment, the city’s consumer price index (CPI) in the first three months of the year increased by 0.18 percent from last December and 1.15 percent over the same period last year.

The city’s budget collection reached 60.49 trillion VND (2.84 billion USD) or 26.49 percent of this year’s plan, a year-on-year surge of 16.07 percent.

The service sector jumped 8.9 percent, making up 60.5 percent of the GDP while the industry and construction sector posted 6.1 percent growth, 38.8 percent.

For the whole quarter, the city’s retail sales and service revenue was estimated at 152.65 trillion VND ( 7.17 billion USD), a year-on-year hike of 12.1 percent.

The city granted investment licenses to 75 projects with a total registered capital of 690 million USD, up 19.1 percent from the corresponding period last year, thanks to the locality’s efforts in reforming administrative formalities and FDI attraction policies.

However, the export turnover was estimated at only 6.34 trillion USD, a year-on-year drop of 7 percent as the crude oil exports fell 12.8 percent in volume and 3.3 percent in value.

The drop also resulted from the city’s shortcomings and barriers in customs formalities, which shied some local enterprises to surrounding localities.

At the meeting, Chairman Quan asked relevant agencies to focus on checking administrative formalities and putting forth remedies.

In the second quarter, the city will focus on tackling local enterprises’ difficulties and supporting their production and business.-VNA