In the January edition of its monthly Vietnam Macro Monitoring, the bank saidthe country’s industrial production and retail sales continued to expandsolidly, with growth rates close to pre-pandemic levels.
December 2020 marked another strong performance of merchandise trade, withdouble digit growth rate in imports (23.1 percent) and exports (17.8 percent),while FDI inflows slowed.
Consumer price index remained flat in December 2020, as food prices stabilised,while consumer demand has yet to fully recover from the crisis.
Credit growth picked up slightly after the State Bank of Vietnam cut policyinterest rates in October, ending 2020 at 10.1 percent.
Auctions and granting of land use and rental improved revenue collection in thelast quarter of 2020, while ample liquidity continued to lower the Government’sborrowing cost in the domestic market.
The approval and rollout of several COVID-19 vaccines at the end of 2020 raisedthe outlook of domestic and global economies in 2021, particularly for tourismand airlines.
The government will need to assess carefully when to unwind macroeconomicpolicies launched in response to the crisis to minimise negative impact on theeconomy, the bank suggested./.