“As the Government prioritised the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic over economic growth, a positive growth rate in January-June still indicates strong efforts of both the Government and society to maintain business operations while combating the COVID-19 pandemic,” saidGSO Deputy General Director Nguyễn Thị Hương at a press conference on Monday.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF)slashed its 2020 world economic growth forecast further last week as theCOVID-19 pandemic had greater damage to economic activity than initially predicted.
The IMF said it expected the global economy to recede by 4.9 per cent compared to a 3 per cent contraction previously forecast in April, adding that this prediction is much worse than during the 2008-09 financial crisis.
The organisation also forecast sharp declines in GDP of large economies this year, with negative 8 per cent for theUS’s GDP, negative 10.2 per cent for Europe, negative 7.8 per cent for Germanyand negative 12.5 per cent for France.
The fund, however, has forecast Việt Nam'seconomy to grow 2.7 per cent this year, the highest in Asia.
Amid the gloomy forecasts for global economic growth, the positive GDP result for Việt Nam had shown thedetermination and efforts of the country’s whole political system in the fightagainst pandemic and its priority for people’s health and lives, even at theexpense of economic benefits, Hương said.
“This is a solid foundation for the Vietnamese economy to sustain growth and avoid contraction. The data show all-level authorities, enterprises and people’s success in concurrently combating thepandemic, maintaining production and business activities, and gradually bringing the economy to the pre-pandemic status.”
GSO reported on Monday that in the second quarter, Việt Nam’s GDP rose by just 0.36 per cent year-on-year, which was thelowest since quarterly records began in Việt Nam 30 years ago, said Dương Mạnh Hùng, director of the System of National Accounts Department.
This was attributed to the economy beinghit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic in Q2, when the Government ramped upsocial distancing measures, the GSO said, adding that theagro-forestry-fisheries sector grew 1.72 per cent, industry-construction rose1.38 per cent, while the services sector contracted 1.76 per cent between Apriland June.
In the January-June period, agriculture,forestry and fishery increased by 1.19 per cent, contributing 11.89 per cent tooverall growth; industry and construction rose by 2.98 per cent, contributing73.14 per cent; and the service sector climbed by 0.57 per cent, contributing14.97 per cent.
Manufacturing and processing was thedriving force of the economy in the first six months with an expansion of 4.96per cent, along with wholesale and retail with a growth rate of 4.3 per cent,as well as finance, banking and insurance with 6.78 per cent.
Two months after the end of socialdistancing in Việt Nam, economic activities have gradually returned to normaland led to a surge of 27.9 per cent month-on-month in new business formationsto 13,700 in June, according to the GSO.
This month also witnessed a sharpmonth-on-month increase of 23.4 per cent in combined registered capital toVNĐ139.1 trillion (US$5.97 billion). Employees recruited by new enterprisesrose 9.4 per cent to 100,000.
However, the number of newly-establishedenterprises in the first six months was more than 62,000 with registeredcapital of a combined VNĐ697.1 trillion, down 7.3 per cent in number and 19 percent in value year-on-year. Average registered capital per newly-establishedenterprise was VNĐ11.2 billion during this period, down 12.5 per centyear-on-year.
The GSO informed that 25,200 enterprises resumed operations, up 16.4 per cent against the comparable period last year,bringing the total number of newly-registered and reinstated enterprises in the six-month period to 87,200, down 1.5 per cent year-on-year.
During this period, the number ofenterprises that temporarily ceased operations surged 38.2 per centyear-on-year to 29,200.
The number of enterprises which completedprocedures for bankruptcy fell 5 per cent to 7,400.
CPI rises 0.66 per cent
The country’s consumer prices in Juneclimbed 0.66 per cent compared to last month and up 3.17 per cent compared tothe same period last year.
GSO Deputy General Director Nguyễn ThịHương said seven out of 11 key commodity and services groups posted increases,of which, transportation saw the highest increase as the prices of petroleum products climbed after a long losing streak since the Lunar New Year and theprices of pork continued to escalate in early June.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) in thesecond quarter of this year fell 1.87 per cent compared to the previous quarterand surged 2.83 per cent compared to the same period last year.
In the first six months of this year, the average CPI jumped 4.19 per cent year-on-year. This is the highest level recorded from 2016 to 2020.