Vietnam’s Economy Expands 4.48% In 4Q On Manufacturing
Vietnam’s economic growth accelerated in the fourth quarter as exports and manufacturing extended their recovery
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Vietnam’s economic growth accelerated in the fourth quarter as exports and manufacturing extended their recovery from the pandemic slump earlier this year.
Gross domestic product rose 4.48% in the fourth quarter compared to a year earlier, up from a revised 2.69% in the third quarter, the General Statistics Office said Sunday. That compared to the median estimate of 4.0% for the fourth quarter in a Bloomberg survey of 18 economists.
The economy expanded 2.91% for the full year, compared to the median estimate of 2.8% in the Bloomberg survey. The government’s latest full-year growth forecast for 2020 is 2%-3%.
“The covid-19 pandemic has sent economic growth this year to the lowest level in 2011-2020 period,” Nguyen Thi Huong, head of the statistics office, said at a briefing in Hanoi. “However, recovery in manufacturing has been the key driver that boosted growth.”
Key Insights
- Exports rose 17.6% in December compared to a year earlier, while imports climbed 22.7%. For the full year, exports increased 6.5% and imports gained 3.6%
- The trade deficit in December was at $1 billion. The country recorded a full-year trade surplus of $19.1 billion
- Consumer prices rose 0.19% in December from a year earlier. The government aims to cap average inflation at 4% this year and next
- Manufacturing for the full year rose 5.82%
- Pledged foreign direct investment for 2020 through Dec. 20 down 25% year-on-year to $28.5 billion, while disbursed FDI dropped 2% to about $20 billion
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- Economic growth should speed up to about 6% next year, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc told legislators in October
- After the U.S. Treasury designated Vietnam last week as a currency manipulator, the country’s central bank said Dec. 17 it doesn’t use the exchange rate “to create an unfair competitive advantage in international trade”
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