WB: Vietnam’s industrial production, retail sales slide in October
Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam’s industrial
production and retail sales slid down in October due to stalled demand at
home and abroad, according to the Vietnam Macro Monitoring report released by
the World Bank in Hanoi on November 16.
Also due to weakening demand from major export markets,
Vietnam’s export growth moderated to 4.8% annually, the lowest in the past 12
months amid rising domestic inflation, tightening
global financial conditions and geopolitical instability in the world.
However, the registered foreign direct investment (FDI) capital rebounded
thanks to inflows into production facilities in electricity, gas and water
supply sectors. FDI disbursement still maintained a
solid growth.
Despite softening fuel prices, consumer price index (CPI)
accelerated from 3.9% in September to 4.3% in October due to inflation of food that
accounted for 21.5% of the CPI basket.
Credit growth dropped to about 16.5% in October
year-on-year due to tightening financial mobilisation conditions. The average overnight interbank interest rate increased
from 4.95% in September to a record 5.48 percent in October. To stabilise
the domestic currency, the State Bank of Vietnam raised two
key policy interest rates by 100 basis points.
The
report showed by the end of October, the State budget recorded a surplus of 10.7 billion USD. The total bond issuance reached 34.9% of the annual plan, much less than 72.5% recorded in the same period last year.
Given the economy is
not fully recovered and growth in main export markets are expected to slow, the WB experts suggested
that continued active fiscal policy to
support the economy should be closely aligned with economic outcomes and
coordinated with monetary policy./.