Despite Vietnam facing challenges in restarting its economy following a prolonged lockdown, positive dynamics observed in October would suggest continued pickup and strengthening of growth in coming months, according to the World Bank. The assessment was released in the November edition of the World Bank (WB)’s monthly Vietnam Macro Monitoring.

The report outlines that industrial production and retail sales have been rebounding as economic activities progressively resume, although they have yet to recover to the levels observed before the local outbreak which hit the country in April.

This rebound was largely driven by the resumption of production activities in Ho Chi Minh City along with its surrounding industrial hubs.

The merchandise trade balance also recorded a second month of surplus due to import growth continuing to slow, while foreign direct investment (FDI) commitment fell after three months of consecutive increases.

In total, the nation attracted 23.7 billion USD worth of committed FDI in the opening 10 months of the year, a figure 1.1% higher than the same period from last year. Despite rising fuel prices, inflation remained subdued as a result of softening food prices and weakening domestic demand for non-food products.

Furthermore, credit growth stabilized in October and overnight interbank interest rates levelled off following a four-month decline.

The October budget balance returned to surplus in October, mainly driven by a sharp fall in expenditures, although revenues continued to decrease for the third consecutive month. The year-to-date budget also recorded a surplus, thereby signaling a continued contractionary fiscal policy that is not supporting aggregate demand during its recovery, according to WB.

Source: VOV5