Manufacturing is likely to expand in double digits in 2019, supported by strong FDI inflows in the sector. (Photo: VNA) HCM City (VNA) – Standard Chartered Bank has forecast that Vietnam willsee a stable economic growth of 6.9 percent in 2019, buoyed by strongFDI-supported manufacturing industry.
The forecast was highlighted at the bank’s Global Research Briefing held in HoChi Minh City on January 16.
The bank’s Chief Executive Officer, Vietnam and ASEAN and South Asia ClusterMarkets Nirukt Sapru said that most of the Vietnam’s macroeconomic indicesshowed improvements in 2018, with bad debts kept under 3 percent, and stableinterest rate and exchange rate despite escalating tension between the US andChina and the interest rate hike from US Federal Reserve.
Those helped minimise market volatility, increase Vietnam’s export competitiveedge over other ASEAN economies, attract FDI projects as well as enhance publicconfidence towards the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV)’s management ability andpolicies, he stressed, expressing his belief that the Vietnamese economy willremain one of the fastest growing in both Asia and ASEAN in 2019.
According to latest macro-economic research on Vietnam, manufacturing is likelyto expand in double digits in 2019 like it did in the past four years,supported by strong FDI inflows in the sector.
Construction activities are predicted to be stable this year, with growthforecast at 8.9 percent for the whole year. Meanwhile, the agricultural sectorwill continue the momentum after its growth hit a record high of 2.9 percent in2018.
The bank’s economists reckon FDI inflows to stay strong this year at close to15 billion USD, and most of the capital will be landed in the manufacturingsector. Particularly, the field of electronics is expected to remain high inthe medium term.
In addition, they said that the SBV willmaintain its flexible policy in the short term to assist economic growth.Interest rate is predicted to be stable while the price of the Vietnamesecurrency, the dong, will slightly increase in 2019. It is possible that the SBVwill tighten its policy in the second half to cope with inflation raterise.-VNA
VNA
