Vietnam Q1 GDP grows 5.83 pct y/y

Vietnam’s economy is expected to grow 5.83 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, in line with previous government forecasts, a government report said on Friday.

The Planning and Investment Ministry report obtained by Reuters also said industrial output in the first three months rose an estimated 13.6 percent from a year earlier to VND173.5 trillion.

Early this month, the government’s General Statistics Office said the economy was expected to grow 5.7-5.9 percent in the first quarter.
The government is targeting growth of 6.5 percent this year, while Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said in January the economy could grow as much as 7 percent.

Dung told Reuters last week that Vietnam continues to face macroeconomic imbalances and the risk of a further pick-up in inflation, but said efforts to keep prices in check while pursuing growth appeared to be working.

Vietnam’s consumer price index rose an annual 9.46 percent in March, the highest inflation rate in a year, the government said on Wednesday.
To help contain the price rise, Vietnam’s central bank said on Thursday it was holding its benchmark base rate at 8 percent in April, the fifth consecutive month at that level.