Ministry announces two growth scenarios for second half

Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi– The Ministry of Planning and Investment (MoPI) has devised two growth scenarios for the second half of 2021, said Deputy Minister Tran Quoc Phuong.

At a press conference following the Government’s regular meeting in Hanoi on July 1, Phuong said under the first scenario with a growth target of 6 percent for the whole year, growth in the third and fourth quarters should reach 6.2 percent and 6.5 percent, respectively, provided that the COVID-19 pandemic is basically curbed in July and there are no pandemic clusters in industrial parks and no social distancing in major cities and provinces.

To achieve a 6.5 percent growth rate this year under the second scenario, the country must reach growth of 7 percent in the third quarter and 7.5 percent and above in the fourth quarter providing that the pandemic is controlled in June and there are no pandemic clusters in industrial parks and no social distancing in major cities and provinces.

The MoPI reported that the economy encountered challenges in the first half of this year, mostly from COVID-19 outbreaks with new variants, rising prices in real estate, materials, transportation and international trade risks.

In the first half of this year, the country's gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 5.64 percent, higher than 1.82 percent recorded in the same period last year but lower than 7.05 percent and 6.77 percent in the same periods in 2018 and 2019. The consumer price index went up 1.47 percent in the first half of this year, the lowest since 2016.

As of June 23, credit grew by 5.08 percent from late 2020 and 15.41 percent year-on-year.

State budget collections hit 57.7 percent of the estimate, up 15.3 percent annually. Total budget expenditure was down 4.9 percent year-on-year, or 41.2 percent of the yearly estimate. Food security was still ensured.