United Overseas Bank forecasts Vietnam’s 2022 GDP at 6.8%
VOV.VN - The Vietnamese economy is set to expand by 6.8% in 2022, Singapore-based United Overseas Bank (UOB) has forecast.
The revised economic growth rate is 0.6% lower than the bank’s earlier projection.
According to the bank, Vietnam’s real GDP growth in the fourth quarter of 2021 recovered to 5.22% over the same period last year, reversing the 6.02% contraction in the previous quarter.
The growth was supported by strong foreign trade while domestic sectors continued to underperform due to the impact of the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.
The low inflation rate means that the State Bank of Vietnam is capable of keeping interest rate policy stable to support economic recovery efforts.
The bank says that a positive recovery in the fourth quarter shows that the local economy is gradually returning to normal. However, the complicated nature of the Omicron variant may cause Vietnam’s GDP to grow by 6.8% in 2022 compared to 7.4% as previously forecast.
Despite the COVID-19 impact Vietnam secured a GDP growth rate of 2.58% in 2021. The economy produced a trade surplus of US$4 billion as the total import-export value hit a record high of more than US$660 billion. The consumer price index stood at 1.84%, a five-year record low.