Chairman of the HCM City People’s Committee Le Hoang Quan released these figures at a conference on March 29 discussing the city’s socio-economic performance in the first quarter.

The rise was fuelled by increases of 10.5 percent for the services sector, 11.7 percent for the industrial and construction areas, and 6.2 percent for the agricultural sector, he emphasised.

The municipal leader asked branches and sectors to continue to implement the set socio-economic targets and focus on measures to rein in inflation and mitigate its impact on the people.

He also requested that branches and sectors halt the implementation of ineffective and unnecessary projects, and speed up capital disbursement for projects.

Municipal businesses were called on to save energy and reduce input costs, to keep production costs low and ensure the competitiveness of their products.

At the meeting, HCM City authorities asked relevant agencies to deal with unemployment, traffic congestion, and food safety and hygiene issues effectively in addition to regulating the market to stabilise prices.