IMF expert considers Vietnam bright spot in world economy

Washington DC – Vietnam’s 8 per cent growth in 2022 was a bright spot of the region and the world, said Daniel Leigh, head of the World Economic Studies division in the International Monetary Fund (IMF)'s Research Department, which produces the World Economic Outlook (WEO).

In an interview granted for the Vietnam News Agency during the week of Spring Meetings of the IMF and the WB in Washington DC, Leigh said the IMF have just revised up the growth forecast for Vietnam, adding that this is partly due to the rebound from COVID-19 and trade diversion. Some of the investment is shifting to Vietnam, giving the country a lift, said the expert.

Although the IMF expected a slowdown in Vietnam’s growth, the projected rate is still high, at 5.8 per cent in 2023 and 6.9 per cent in 2024, he said.

He also noted that inflation in Vietnam is relatively low, at over 3 per cent in 2022. It is coming up – partly because of the dynamic economy – and is expected to be back to the world inflation target, at around 4.3 per cent in 2024.

For Vietnam to continue to grow strongly in the remaining quarters of this year and the next five years, Leigh recommended that the country's monetary policy continue to focus on bringing down inflation as it happens, and fiscal policy continue giving the targeted support to the vulnerable households.

Regarding financial stability, a priority should be given to helping stabilise the real estate and corporate bond markets with specific tools, but this should not distract from the overall move toward inflation stability, he suggested.

Local authorities at all levels are eager to implement construction of transport infrastructure up and down the country.

Six groups of products posted an export revenue of over 1 billion USD to the US market in the first quarter of this year, with the group of machinery, equipment, tools and spare parts topping with 3.98 billion USD, according to the General Department of Vietnam Customs.

Hanoi recently issued a project on promoting Vietnamese businesses to directly participate in foreign distribution networks by 2030.