Rather than rush the country's growth rate, Vietnam's goal should be to stabilise the economy, said Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on May 24when asking the World Bank country director Victoria Kwakwa to continue the organisation's support for the country.

The country expects to keep inflation at 8 percent this year (compared to 18 percent last year) and limit overspending to 4.8 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), he said.

Vietnam targets 5.6-5.8 percent growth in 2012 and will increase it to more than 6 percent next year when inflation was expected to decrease to below 6 percent.

Dung also said the Government ss conducting an economic reform which will focus on public investment, State enterprises, and the banking system.

The Government leader expected the World Bank to support Vietnam in pursuing development goals, provide policy consultancy and share experience in dealing with bank bad debts. It also hoped for an increased foreign investment and the implementation of key traffic projects.

The World Bank country director appreciated Vietnam 's policies to curb inflation over the past year. However, she suggested the country focus on helping enterprises, improving production and trade, improving technology application in production, and creating more jobs.

Kwakwa said Vietnam should enhance its control over public investment to improve its effectiveness.

She confirmed that the World Bank will always co-operate with and support Vietnam in its development process.

The World Bank earlier announced it will allocate 4.2 billion USD for a five-year (2012-16) strategy to support the country.-VNA